


The Absence Of

by nanaa127



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Gen, Gladio's off doing his own thing, Kidnapping, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-12
Updated: 2019-12-08
Packaged: 2021-01-29 03:54:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 26,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21403768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nanaa127/pseuds/nanaa127
Summary: Noct's retinue discovers that not everyone outside the Crown City is pro-royal.
Relationships: Noctis Lucis Caelum/Ignis Scientia
Comments: 28
Kudos: 177





	1. Chapter 1

They rolled into Meldacio just as the sun lowered itself beyond the horizon. The road to the rundown outpost was already dark, shaded by the rocky arch that rose above them, but Meldacio itself glowed like welcoming window set into the dark mountains, lit by the powerful lamps that kept the daemons at bay. It was a relief to finally arrive at their destination. The Regalia seemed lighter without Gladio's reassuring bulk in the backseat. Less balanced, more insecure. Or maybe that was just Ignis. _And now I'm projecting my feelings onto an automobile,_ he thought tiredly. _Just bloody wonderful._

He parked right outside the caravan, which thankfully looked unoccupied. Ignis was feeling the long drive in his aching back, and as shabby as the caravans were, they were equipped with beds and a shower and most importantly, this one was right in front of them. A haven would have been been easier on their rapidly dwindling funds, but at least they could take on hunts here to make up for it. Ignis also hoped that an influx of cash would help replenish their curative and food stocks - they were worryingly short on on both, which seemed to be their perpetual state despite his best efforts to manage their supply. If nothing else, Ignis wanted to make sure they were prepared for every disaster before they began their search for the mythril.

"Prompto. Wake up." The sleeping blonde was slumped over in the passenger seat, head pressed against the window and mouth slack. Ignis gently shook his shoulder before turning to the backseat. "Noctis? Wake up, we're here."

"'M awake," Prompto mumbled, blinking slowly as he sat upright. "Where're we?"

"Meldacio," Ignis replied. "We can stay here for the night."

"Awesome," Prompto said. "Can we check out the diner? I'm starving!"

Ignis suppressed a sigh. He could probably go without to save on funds, but Prompto and Noct obviously needed to eat. And they did need to speak with the proprietor. "Of course," he replied. "That is, if His Highness ever decides to grace us with his conscious presence."

"Fuck off," Noctis muttered. He glared sleepily at Ignis, who smiled back at him. "I'm up. The food had better be worth it."

"I'm afraid I can't promise that," Ignis said, getting out and opening the car door for the king. "I can, however, promise lodging with running water and something that resembles a bed afterward." 

"I'll take it," Noct declared as he exited the Regalia. He looked around, taking in the settlement. "So this is the hunters' place, huh? I thought it would be like...bigger, or something."

Ignis had to agree. The outpost had its place in Lucian history, but judging from its appearance, its glory days were apparently long gone. Just like the rest of the outlying regions of Lucis. "Hunting is a dangerous profession," he said. "It must be difficult to keep their numbers high enough to warrant a larger headquarters."

"Man, that kinda sucks," Prompto said. "You think it's gonna turn into a ghost town one day?"

"I wouldn't say that," Ignis replied. "But I doubt it will be getting much larger any time soon."

They made their way to the small eatery and claimed one of the few empty tables. While the prince's retinue stood out at many of the places they'd visited, they were particularly conspicuous here, amongst the crowd of worn, rough-looking men and women. Ignis caught more than one glance that was sent their way, and while most of the hunters they'd encountered during their travels had been fairly friendly, the advisor had no desire to draw more attention than strictly necessary. 

The proprietor, a nondescript man named Ash, stopped by to take their order. As Noctis and Prompto mulled over the short menu, Ignis inquired about available hunts. "A lower level hunt would be ideal," he mentioned quietly. Without a full supply of curatives and Gladio's skill to bolster them, he had no absolutely desire to take unnecessary risks.

"Well," Ash said, scratching the back of his head, "don't know that we got much. There're some killer wasps that need to be cleared out along the north bank of the Vesperpool, but that might be it for the easy ones."

Ignis hadn't expected a wide variety of choices, but he'd certainly been hoping for more than one option. "There's nothing else?"

"Gross," Prompto groaned. "I hate bugs. I really, really hate bugs."

"Then I guess you won't have any problems killing them, right? We've got this, Specs," Noctis said confidently. "Let's do it."

Ignis wasn't quite as assured, but it seemed within their reach. Besides, it wasn't as if they had a choice. Not unless they wanted to drive all the way to Lestallum to find something else. "Well then," he said to Ash. "I suppose we'll take it on."

With business settled, Noctis and Prompto ordered their meals while Ignis opened the menu. It was a good thing he'd had quite a bit of practice in maintaining a neutral expression when faced with unpleasant surprises, because the prices listed alongside the entrées fell somewhere between outrageously expensive to highway robbery. He surreptitiously glanced around the diner and saw nothing but food-laden tables. Ignis suspected that either everyone else was getting a discount, or they had been given a 'special' menu. The chamberlain cleared his throat and ordered a coffee.

"No dinner? Aren't you always telling me to have healthy eating habits?" the king protested as Ash walked away.

"Do as I say, not as I do," Ignis replied. 

"How am I supposed to do what you say if you don't set a good example for me, Specs? I call bullshit."

"You may call it whatever you'd like," Ignis said implacably. "I'm simply not hungry."

"Come on, Iggy. That's like, super bullshit," Prompto accused. "I heard your stomach growling right before we got out of the car." Ignis turned a betrayed look on the blonde.

"Look, is it because of money? We're going on a hunt tomorrow, so we'll make up for it, easy," Noctis reasoned. Ignis was surprised - he hadn't thought Noct actually paid attention to their funds. Of course, he could also simply be taking a stab in the dark, considering how often Ignis griped about their lack of gil. "The meat pie looked pretty good, didn't it, Specs?"

Against his better judgement, Ignis allowed himself to be bullied into placing an order. He'd have to make up for it later if their hunt fell through - Ignis disliked spending money they didn't actually have yet. For the moment though, he simply wanted to savor the open affection on the prince's face, to keep it there for as long as possible. It was becoming too rare.

"Besides," Noct said once Ignis returned to the table, "we don't have to feed Gladio's big ass, so that's extra savings right there."

Prompto frowned. "You think he's okay?" he asked. "Feels kinda weird without him."

"Yeah, I'm sure he's fine. Gladio can take care of himself." Noct sounded dismissive, matter-of-fact, but Ignis could hear a note of concern and something far less benevolent underneath it. It matched Ignis' own mixed feelings on the Shield's absence. While he understood Gladio's desire for some level of autonomy, Ignis was rather frustrated that he'd felt the need to leave the group entirely for an extended period of time. While the chamberlain was confident that he'd be able to keep Noct safe in the interim, he would have strongly preferred to have the Shield's solid presence with them. 

"I guess so," Prompto said. "Also, when he gets back, I'm telling him you said he has a big ass."

"What? That's not what I said!"

Prompto grinned. "Dude, that's exactly what you said. Right, Iggy?"

"I'm afraid I've gone temporarily deaf," Ignis demurred. Noct raised his fist in silent triumph.

"But you just heard my question!"

"It's a selective deafness," the chamberlain explained. 

Before Prompto could protest further, two men from a table of four got up and walked over to them. "Hey," one of them said. He was older, perhaps in his late thirties, and as tall as Ignis with twice the bulk. His bald head gleamed under the lamp light, and the scent of stale grain alcohol emanated from him in noxious waves. "Me and my buddies got a bet goin' on. You the prince?"

The question was innocent enough, but a tiny alarm started to jangle at the back of Ignis' mind. "What makes you ask?" he said, just as Noctis replied, "Yeah, I am."

The tall man grinned. Ignis thought the expression showed too many teeth. "That's what we thought. Hey Bern," he said, slapping the chest of the shorter, whip-thin man by his side, "I was right. It's the prince. Oh sorry, the _king_ now, ain't it?"

A small muscle jumped in Noct's jaw, but his voice stayed level. "It is."

"Huh." The hunter rubbed at his stubbled chin. "Thought you'd be more impressive. You're kinda puny."

"Hey!" Prompto interjected. "That's not true." Ignis resisted the urge to close his eyes and sigh. 

The older man laughed. It was a nasty noise that grated harshly on Ignis' nerves. "Maybe he don't seem that way to you, little man. Anyway, you thinkin' about takin' on that wasp hunt that Ash's got?"

"I don't see how that's any business of yours," the chamberlain said coolly. "We'd appreciate it if you'd be on your way." Perhaps it was rude, but he wanted to end the conversation as quickly as possible.

"And I'd appreciate it if you'd keep your fucking mouth shut, four eyes. Wasn't askin' you." The hunter's tone was casually cruel and Noct leapt out of his seat. Both Ignis and Prompto followed and the five men faced off around the flimsy plastic table, the tension between them vibrating like a live wire. The thought that perhaps they should have gone to Lestallum after all shot fleetingly through Ignis' mind.

"Don't talk to him like that," Noct growled, his voice low and dangerous.

"I'll talk however I want," the hunter said. "What're you gonna do about it? Out here, you ain't nothin' special. And now that daddy and that magic Wall of yours is gone, there's nowhere for you to run and hide." The older man leaned forward, pressing his palms flat against the table. His eyes were shadowed by the harsh lighting and his voice went soft. "You cowards left us out here to get chewed up. First by the Nifs, then the daemons. And now you get to rot with us, you little shit. Ain't no one gonna protect your soft City ass out here."

Ignis sensed Noct's body coil as he readied to spring forward in attack. The advisor placed a discreet, restraining hand on the prince's - king's - elbow. Although he understood the impulse, a fight here and now had the potential to become an utter disaster. He was acutely aware of all the eyeballs that were glued to the scene, and Ignis had no idea whether the other hunters would come to their aid, steer away, or Gods forbid, go against them. And most importantly, despite their unsavory character, these men were still Lucian citizens. It would not do Noct's reputation any good for him to assault his own subjects, provoked or not.

"I don't need anyone to protect me," Noct shot back. To Ignis' profound relief, he took the hint and his limbs relaxed a fraction. "Get out of here. I've had enough."

"Is that right?" Ignis knew what was coming and stepped forward to intercept the blow even as the hunter drew his arm back. The punch was a clumsy thing, off-balance and ill-weighted, and he caught the flying fist easily. Ignis used the older man's own momentum to spin him around and then throw him to his knees. The chamberlain viciously twisted the offending arm up behind the hunter's back and pressed his other hand down on the man's wrenched shoulder to immobilize him. It might not be advisable for Noct to lay his hands on the citizens of Lucis, but there was certainly no such restriction on his retainers.

"I suggest you take His Majesty's excellent advice and remove yourselves from our vicinity," Ignis muttered harshly. "I will not be so gentle next time." 

The smaller man, Bern, who'd been silent for the entire exchange, stepped up to Ignis. From his bent position, the chamberlain got a very good view of the powerful handguns that were strapped to Bern's thighs and the spindly fingers that were lightly tapping against the grips. "Tet's just drunk, boy. Let him up."

"He tried to attack the king," Ignis pointed out stiffly.

"He don't mean it. Let him up."

Ignis looked up and found the prince staring at them with an unreadable look on his face. Prompto stood close by Noct's side, his face solemn and hands held away from his body, ready to summon his weapons if needed. Beneath him, the older hunter - Tet - panted with pain, his chest heaving with each breath. The two other men that had been sitting at Tet and Bern's table were on their feet, while the rest of the diner crowd, which had been blanketed by the low murmur of conversation, was conspicuously silent. _And here I was hoping to draw_ less _attention_.

The chamberlain released the man in his grip just as Ash exited the kitchens, a full tray balanced on his hand. Tet slowly clambered to his feet, rubbing at his shoulder. An ugly scowl darkened his face. 

"What's going on here?" Ash asked loudly. The question seemed to shatter mounting hostilities and the promise of violence quietly slipped away. "Tet, you been drinking again?"

"Course he's been drinkin' again," Bern muttered under his breath. "Fuckin' stupid question."

Ash continued as though he hadn't heard. "Get 'im out of here and sobered up," he said quietly to Bern. "I don't wanna kick you boys out permanently, but I will if this keeps up."

Tet spat on the ground and with one last glare around the prince's table, allowed himself to be led away by his smaller companion. Ignis watched them go with wary eyes before returning to his seat. Ash began to distribute the plates on his tray and sighed heavily as he set the last one down before Prompto. "Hope the old boy didn't scare you too bad," Ash said apologetically. "Tet's been through a rough time, recently. Hells, he's had a rough life, but who hasn't out here, huh?"

"It's fine," Noctis said too loudly. He picked up his fork and stabbed it into his dinner with prejudice. "It takes way more than that to scare us."

"I'll bet," Ash said, eyeing the silverware that was now protruding from the meat skewers.

"What happened to him?" Prompto asked around a mouthful of stew. Ignis admired the blonde's ability to carry on as if nothing had happened. His own hunger had vanished, but he forced himself to follow Prompto's good example. They would have to pay for the food whether they ate it or not, so might as well have a bite.

"Who, Tet?" Ash shrugged. "Wife and kids were killed a few weeks back in a daemon attack. They were too slow gettin' back to safety. Bern's just about the only family he's got left."

Prompto swallowed and looked miserable. "Oh. Wow. That really sucks."

Ash shrugged again. "Just about everyone out here's got some ol' sob story. It's life. People deal with it different when it happens."

The proprietor left after placing their bill on the table. Noctis continued to pick at his food, a pensive expression on his face.

"Is everything alright, Noct?" Ignis asked gently.

"Yeah." The king worried at a piece of grilled onion that had fallen off the end of the skewer. "No."

"You weren't worried, were you?" Prompto asked. "'Cause the Igster totally had that covered."

Noctis gave Ignis a small, half-hearted smile. "It's probably a good thing that it was you and not Gladio, because he probably would have ripped that guy's arm off."

_If Gladio had been here, that confrontation would probably never have happened at all,_ Ignis thought. The chamberlain didn't know what it was - the spectacles, the clothes, the accent, his lanky frame - but it seemed that he was destined to always be dismissed by strangers as a non-factor in a fight, never to be considered a threat. Not that Ignis was particularly keen on being seen as a threat, but he thought there was some value in being able to stop a conflict just by looking intimidating. _Like Gladio._ Ignis missed the big man's sturdiness.

"A good thing, indeed. Dismembered limbs can get rather messy." Ignis leaned forward and waited until we was sure he had the younger man's attention. "Noct. It's not your fault. Nor was it your father's. What was done was for the good of Lucis."

"Uh huh, sure," Noct said distantly as his gaze slid away. Ignis pressed his lips into a thin line and forced himself to be patient. Like an overstretched elastic snapping back into place, Noct visibly shook away the melancholy that still settled over him occasionally, escaping before it became too deep and too dark. He looked down at his plate and removed the fork that was still stuck in his dinner. "This looks pretty good. How's that pie, Specs?" Before the chamberlain could respond, Noctis reached over and helped himself to a big bite of Ignis' meal.

"Verdict?" Ignis asked.

"Not bad, not bad at all," Noct mumbled thoughtfully around a half-chewed mouthful. "Maybe not as good as your cooking, though."

The rest of their meal passed uneventfully and as the three made their way back to the caravan, Ignis caught Noctis' arm before he could become too engrossed in Prompto's challenge to a round of King's Knight. 

"We could head to Lestallum tomorrow morning," he suggested quietly. "Perhaps find a different hunt elsewhere." Ignis wasn't one to be easily ruffled, but the encounter at the diner had left him strangely unsettled.

Noct pulled his arm away. "I think the one we have now is fine. We can handle it," he said stubbornly. "Besides, there's no point in driving back and forth when we need to head up to the Vesperpool area anyway, right?"

"I suppose not." It was certainly more efficient to stay in the area, and the chamberlain suddenly felt foolish over his attack of paranoia. He was allowing Gladio's unexpected absence to affect him far too much. Ignis resolutely pushed his glasses up his nose. "Very well, then."


	2. Chapter 2

They woke early the next morning, refreshed by a night's sleep on an actual mattress rather than a thin pad on top of hard stone. The cots in the caravans tended to be too short for both Ignis and Gladio, but the chamberlain found it difficult to complain after endless nights in a sleeping bag. Before leaving the hunter HQ, they stopped by the general store to pick up a few extra curatives to augment their paltry supply. Ignis hoped they wouldn't be needed, but knew he'd inevitably be disappointed and didn't want to be caught unprepared, as it were.

When they stepped back out into the bright sunshine, they found the hunters that had confronted them the previous evening loitering on the wide porch. Tet was leaning casually against the railing and his eyes narrowed when he caught sight of them, but made no move to intercept them. He was wearing the same clothing as the night before, but seemed sober and clear-eyed. Somewhat worryingly, he now had a large blade strapped to his back.

"Heading out early, eh?" Tet called out. His voice was deceptively friendly, with no trace of the aggression he'd shown the night before. Bern, who stood next to him, remained silent and watched them with a dark stare, his scrutiny uncomfortably intense.

"Yeah," Noctis replied. "What's it to you?"

The big hunter shrugged. "Nothin'. You'd best be careful out there. The wilds 'round here can be dangerous."

"We're aware," Ignis said flatly. "Thank you for the advice."

They walked away without further incident, despite the itching that Ignis felt between his shoulder blades. He resisted the urge to turn around and exhaled slowly when they made it to the safe confines of the Regalia. 

"Everything in order?" Ignis asked, glancing in the rearview mirror. With any luck, they wouldn't see those hunters again after today, and so the chamberlain decided to spare as much brain space on them as they deserved, which was to say none at all.

"Ready to kick some waspy ass," Prompto confirmed. Noctis gave him a thumbs up.

The drive to the Vesperpool area was beautiful. The air was warm with a slight bit of humidity, promising muggier conditions to come, but for the moment the weather was perfection. Ignis soaked it in with a can of Ebony, cracked open and half-emptied in one long, satisfied swallow. With the roof of the Regalia down, it wasn't long before Noct had perched himself along the top of the backseat, joking with a very snap-happy Prompto. The first time Noct had climbed up there, Ignis had nearly had a heart attack. Even now, seeing his charge in such a precarious position made his stress levels jump a bit. He'd very quickly learned to become a cautious driver, since no number of reprimands could prevent the prince - king - from sitting where he wanted.

Their map had shown a distinct lack of roads in the area where they needed to be, so Ignis turned onto a dirt path and parked the Regalia along the eastern edge of the lake under a tall, lonely lamp post. The heat of the day began to intensify as the three men fought their way through the thick underbrush, skirting around enormous boulders and the occasional strutting basilisk. Ignis was once again struck by how wild and sparse the rest of Lucis was compared to the packed urban confines of the Crown City. Although the Vesperpool wasn't visible from their trail, its presence was made known through the heavy dampness in the air and the rich, earthy scent of wet dirt and decomposing vegetation. And also, apparently, the clouds of tiny flies swarming in the air.

"Dude, seriously, what is wrong with you?" Noctis asked, laughing as Prompto flailed about, gyrating like he was performing some strange, animalistic mating dance.

"Help! They're everywhere!" Prompto's hands flapped wildly in front of his face. "Stupid bugs. Why am I the only one being eaten alive?"

"Maybe you're extra tasty to them, who knows?" Noctis said amusedly, crossing his arms and watching his friend jump about from the safety of his fly-free space. "Anyway, I think you're keeping them away from me and Specs, so keep up the good work." 

"That's so unfair," Prompto moaned.

"Think of it as taking one for the team," the king said.

"Even the smallest contribution is valuable," Ignis added solemnly.

"Ugh, I hate you guys so much right now. Oh gods, I think I just swallowed one!"

Despite his insect-induced misery, Prompto insisted on stopping several times to take pictures of their surroundings, cajoling Noctis and Ignis into some ridiculous poses for his photos. It made their journey slow, but Ignis found it hard to begrudge the blonde when Noct was clearly enjoying himself. Whatever dark cloud had been hovering over the king the night before seemed to have dissipated, much to Ignis' relief.

The location given for the hunt had not been particularly specific, and as a result the afternoon sun was taking on a late, golden glow by the time they finally found their targets along the north shore of the lake. They were directed by a charged, angry buzz that filled the air, the vibrations of which Ignis felt down into his bones. Upon reaching a small clearing, the three men were greeted by the sight of eight killer wasps hovering in the air. Two especially large ones appeared as though they were having some sort of dispute, while the other six hung about watching. Ignis, Prompto and Noctis crouched at the edge of the glade, observing as the giant insects became more and more agitated. 

"Ew," Prompto whimpered softly. "The bigger they are, the grosser they get."

"Now's your chance for revenge," Ignis whispered. "Payback for being pestered by their smaller cousins."

"Specs, how should we do this?" Noct asked.

Ignis pursed his lips as he watched the wasps for another moment. "Focus on taking out the two in the middle first. They appear to be the queens, and will likely be the most dangerous. I'll assist, and Prompto, you concentrate keeping the smaller wasps occupied."

"Royalty against royalty, huh?" Prompto joked quietly.

"Yeah, and guess who's gonna come out on top?" Noct replied with a cocky smirk.

"Only one way to find out," Ignis murmured. "Be careful, everyone."

Noct predictably rolled his eyes before blinking out, leaving behind nothing but a translucent blue shimmer. Ignis summoned his daggers just as the king reappeared in midair, slamming into one of the two largest wasps with a flash of his blade. Noctis remained suspended, utterly graceful in his weightlessness, as he continued his relentless attack on the unsuspecting insect. Ignis firmly shoved away the urge to simply stand and admire the exquisite splendor of his liege, flipped one of his daggers in his hand and launched it at the other huge wasp. He felt a small rush of satisfaction as his target jerked and dipped. The chamberlain quickly dismissed the flying dagger into the armiger and summoned it back into his hand, just in time to see both Noct and one of the queens hit the ground. Fortunately, the king's landing was far more controlled than the wasp's. 

Ignis ran over to where Noct was continuing his assault on the fallen, irate insect, dancing around as he tried to get his hits in while avoiding the wasp's dangerous stinger. The other wasps were enraged by the surprise attack, and the buzzing in the air intensified as they launched an offensive of their own, swooping down in unpredictable dashes to try and stab and spit on the three men. Ignis reached out and tugged at Noct's shirt with one hand, jerking him out of the path of a darting wasp's venom spray while throwing one of his weapons with the other. One down.

"Thanks, Specs," Noctis huffed. 

"Of course," Ignis replied. As if he'd ever allow his king to stand in danger.

The staccato bark of gunfire in the background told Ignis that Prompto was still whittling away at the swarm. When it was interrupted by a short yelp of pain, Ignis' head jerked around, as did Noctis'. In that briefest of distractions, the killer wasp that had been flopping about on the ground rose up and furiously jammed its stinger high into the king's back before taking to the skies once more.

"Ah, fuck," Noctis gasped as he staggered. He fell to one knee, face twisted with pain.

"Noct!" Ignis' attention was immediately drawn back to his charge. He took a defensive stance over Noctis, slashing at another wasp that tried to attack the wounded man.

"I'm fine," Noctis groaned. A potion was already in his hand, and a mist of green swirled around him as he cracked the vial open. "Go check on Prompto. Go!"

The chamberlain leapt away reluctantly, knowledge that the potion would have healed any physical damage warring with the strong need to prevent any more. He made his way to where he thought the cry had originated, and found that Prompto had become rather isolated in his position. The blonde was taking cover behind a large tree, quickly reloading his guns. There was a long, bloody rip in his pants that started high on his left thigh and trailed down to his knee. He looked up, eyes wide and startled, as Ignis landed beside him.

"Prompto, are you alright?"

"Yup," Prompto replied. "Just got caught by surprise, is all. Damn bugs ambushed me."

"Do you need a potion?" Ignis inquired. The amount of blood on Prompto's clothes wasn't concerning, but loss of mobility was always an issue.

"Nah, took one already. Thanks, Iggy."

Ignis nodded. "Follow me, then. We shouldn't be spread so thin." Especially when they were already short one person.

"Roger!"

Ignis and Prompto regrouped with Noctis, who was now constantly warping up to take on the wasps in their own territory, flashing from one oversized insect to another. Once upon a time, the advisor would have worried about Noct draining himself and dropping into stasis, but the young king seemed to have a better idea of his limits, now. Ignis supposed it wasn't surprising, considering how often he was forced to rely on his unique skills. 

Between the three of them, the killer wasps were eventually all bought down. When the last one died with a desperate twitch, Prompto let out a whoop of victory and ran around to high five both Noct and Ignis. "All right! Bye bye bugs!"

Noct stood by one of the large queen wasps. He skin and clothes were spattered with some viscous yellow goo, no doubt from when he'd been too close to a wasp that had literally exploded when struck by one of Prompto's shots. A pleased grin stretched his face, his cheeks pink from exertion and satisfaction. "That wasn't so bad, was it?" he said.

"I suppose not," Ignis replied, feeling a matching flush of accomplishment. They'd gotten through the hunt with minimal injuries, which was all he could ask for. _It seems we may be fine, after all,_ he thought. It was no secret that Gladio disliked fighting against flying opponents. The Shield was deceptively fast, but his skills and heavy weapon weren't quite as effective when his prey could simply take to the skies to avoid him. _We can do this._

They dragged the dead wasps into a single pile and began to remove the stingers as part of their prize. The sun was now beginning its slow descent past the horizon, casting rosy rays through the tree branches. 

"We should head back," Ignis suggested. Success or not, he didn't want to be caught on the open road after dark if he could help it.

"Yeah for sure, let me just get this shot. Man, the light is super amazing," Prompto said. He convinced Noctis to pose with the dead wasps for their proof-of-death photo and the king obliged, holding one of the stingers to his head like a spiracorn horn. Prompto laughed as he snapped away, and Ignis watched on with fond amusement. "Nice!"

A shot rang out through the clearing, the booming sound deafeningly loud in the relative silence of the lakeshore. "Prompto?" Noctis asked confusedly, turning a questioning look on his friend although it was obvious that Prompto's hands held nothing but the camera. Ignis began to sprint towards his liege, his body reacting even as his mind was still trying to process what was happening.

"Dude, it wasn't me! I don't even - "

Another shot, and this time a garish spray of crimson exploded from Noctis' head. He jerked back and collapsed bonelessly into a dark heap, adding his own body to the mound dead wasps. 

"_Noct!_" 

In a very, very tiny part of his mind, Ignis was distantly aware that the pained scream had been torn from his own throat, but the rest of his entire being was focused on his king, lying motionlessly in the dirt. This couldn't be happening. Clearly Ignis had been tossed into some horrifying alternate dimension where the universe allowed for the possibility of his king, _his Noct_, to die bleeding into the dirt, to die before Ignis did. This had to be some sort of terrible, thoughtless prank. If he kept running, if he reached Noct, Noct would bounce back up and grin smugly, laughing at him for being such a gullible fool. _Gotcha, Specs!_

_Oh gods, gods no, please, please, he's not dead dead dead..._

The next bullet ripped through Ignis, striking him just under his ribs and leaving behind a wake of total destruction. The sheer force of it was breathtaking, and it sucked all the strength from his limbs as though a black hole had been punched into his body rather than a bullet wound. Ignis crumpled to the ground, landing agonizingly close to where Noct lay. 

"Noct... Noct...." His king's name whistled softly from his mouth, accompanied by a thick trickle of blood. Ignis tried to reach out to Noctis, but his arms refused to obey. Noct was still. Too still. 

There was noise above him, another explosion, and the sound of voices, only vaguely familiar. He couldn't make out the words, wasn't interested in them. A pair of large, dusty boots came and stood by his face, blocking Ignis' view of Noctis. He couldn't see who the boots belonged to, and didn't care. He wanted the boots to move. He needed to see Noctis, to see whether he was still breathing, still bleeding, still living. 

After a moment, an eternity, one dirty booted foot nudged at Ignis, toppling him onto his back. The motion set off a firestorm inside of him and Ignis squeezed his eyes shut, grinding out a wet, tormented cry. The pain was simply too much, so excruciatingly overwhelming in its intensity that there was no room for anything else. But just when he thought he'd finally be burned down into a pile of ashes by the molten agony, it began to recede. In its absence, a blank, achingly cold numbness rushed in to fill the void, like a blessing from the the Glacian herself. The ice chased the warmth out of him, through his front, his back, up his throat and out his mouth. It was leaving him, and taking the light with it. Ignis didn't fight it, didn't have the strength to do so. All he wanted was to see Noct one last time. He wished to know that his king lived on.

_Noct, please. Please..._

His wish was to go unfulfilled, for when the boots finally moved, Noct was gone. Instead, another face hovered over him in misty darkness, violet eyes wide with shock and fear. _Prompto._ Ignis felt something small and smooth placed in his hand. His nerveless fingers were forced to wrap around the object. Prompto's hand squeezed tight and Ignis felt a rush of tingly, soothing magic flood through him. It was followed by the ever strange sensation of organs, muscle, skin knitting back together at an accelerated, unnatural pace, trying to reverse the devastating damage that had been inflicted on his body. The river of blood that was pouring from him slowed to a stream, then to a trickle. Another vial, another crush, another rush of magic - Ignis could now breathe more freely, the air in his lungs and throat crackling around clotted blood. The smaller entry wound in his side and the large exit wound in his back were precariously sealed over, held together by a thin, fragile layer of new skin. Prompto placed a third curative in his hand - Ignis guessed they were elixirs based on how powerful they were - and the chamberlain weakly pulled his hand away.

"Stop," he gasped. "Stop." Ignis rolled onto his side and curled up, gently pressing his trembling hands against his freshly healed belly. Prompto clutched fiercely at his shoulder, hanging on for dear life. 

"But... I don't... you're still..." Prompto verbally flailed about, sounding lost and uncertain.

"I'm fine," Ignis groaned. He was fine. He was no longer bleeding, no longer dying. He was just as he'd been before, when he'd stood by and allowed his king to be shot. They could ill afford to waste any more precious curatives, not when Noct would need whatever they had left.

"No!" Prompto burst out. "That's not even - you're not _fine_, Iggy!"

Ignis didn't bother to answer. He simply didn't have the energy to spare. Instead, he ordered his unwilling body to unfurl and wriggled his arm underneath his side. The intention had been to push himself to a sitting position, but Ignis made it less than halfway before his shaking arm gave out. Prompto caught him before he hit the ground again and carefully helped him upright. Ignis slumped heavily against his friend as he gagged and coughed, grimacing as he spit out something dark and metallic-tasting. The twilight world spun sickeningly about him, threatening to buck him off into space.

"Where's Noct?" Ignis clicked on the light that was still clipped to his belt. Such a small, simple motion, and yet so draining.

"They...they took him." Prompto's face was wan, and his freckles stood out starkly against white skin. The miserable blonde looked as though he wanted to roll up into a tiny ball. "Gods, Iggy, Noct... Noct was..."

"He was alive." It wasn't a question.

"Uh, maybe? I hope so." Prompto's expression crumbled. "I don't know!"

"He'll be _fine_." There was no other outcome that was acceptable in Ignis' world. If he wasn't, then...well. His mind kept replaying the gruesome splash of blood that had sprayed from his king's head. "Who took him? Who attacked us?"

Prompto's face darkened. It was wrong to see such fury distorting his normally cheerful countenance. "Those fucking assholes from Meldacio."

Ignis knew exactly who he meant. An odd sensation washed through him, lending him the strength he didn't have. The pressure of it made his chest heave and squeezed his head like a vice. It was a moment before the chamberlain recognized it as pure rage. "Help me up," he demanded.

"Are you sure?"

No, he was not sure. "Up."

Standing was a mistake. The ground tilted violently and Ignis' legs threatened to fold under him. They shook with the strain of holding him upright, even though he was certain that most of his weight was on Prompto. He knew the wound was technically gone, but an echo of the immense pain it had caused speared his side, drawing out a tiny gasp. Ignis shut his eyes against the sudden instability in his world, against his own terrible weakness. They flew open when something cool was pressed into his hand. It was a water bottle.

"We don't have any of the electrolyte stuff, but it's gotta be better than nothing." Prompto gestured at the plastic container. "Drink up."

It was something he should have reached for himself, immediately after being healed. Ignis gave himself another mental shake. _Pull yourself together,_ he thought viciously. _Noct doesn't have time for your dithering incompetence._ "Thank you, Prompto," he said. The advisor uncapped the bottle with quaking fingers and first washed out the thick, coppery film that coated the inside of his mouth and wiped away the drying stickiness on his chin and cheeks. He managed to drink only half the water before his stomach protested, but the liquid did its job. The world steadied itself and Ignis no longer felt quite so much like overripe tomato pulp.

"You alright, Iggy?" Prompto asked softly.

"Yes. Are you?" The chamberlain mentally kicked himself again. He should have asked that straight away.

"Right as rain," the blonde replied morosely.

Ignis tightened his grip around Prompto's shoulders. "Good to hear. Which way did they go?"

"Who?"

"The hunters. _Noct._"

"Oh, right. Um. East, I think."

Ignis grit his teeth to stop himself from screaming with impatience. None of this was Prompto's fault. "You think?"

"I mean they did. Go east."

It was good enough. It had to be. "Let's get on with it, then." Ignis staggered forward, dragging Prompto with him.

"Wait, what? You want to go after them? Now?"

"Of course." Ignis didn't understand why the blonde was wasting time with pointless questions. They had already delayed far too long as it was.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, Iggy, you...well, you kinda look like a horror movie victim. Like, one of the dead ones."

The chamberlain gave Prompto an incredulous look. By the Six, who fucking cared? "Prompto. They. Took. Noct."

"Yeah, I know. But...but we're not gonna be able to get him back like this. Not when you're like, half-dead still."

Ignis shook his head in disappointment and continued forward, locking his knees with each step to make sure the joints didn't unexpectedly give way. It would certainly make things harder if Prompto decided not to come, but no matter. Ignis was going to go collect Noct, who was still alive and would be completely and totally fine once he was back in Ignis' loving care. And then he was going to destroy the people stupid enough to lay their hands on his king.


	3. Chapter 3

_It hurts. It fucking_ hurts.

Titan was trying to crush his skull, he was sure of it. Perhaps the god hadn't wanted the covenant at all, and was now getting his revenge on the puny human that had dared demand it. Maybe it wasn't just the Archeaen, but all the gods that were trying to punish him because nothing made any sense. Noct thought he might be moving, but his feet didn't seem to be touching the ground. Or maybe they were, and he just couldn't tell. The upper half of his body was flopping around, and each time it bumped into the solid warmth underneath him, it set off a pulse of agony that threatened to send him back under. Actually, that didn't seem like a bad idea...

He didn't know how much time had passed before he surfaced again, but it wasn't enough for his head to feel any better. The jarring sensation of moving without actually moving was still strong, and he just... what? Noct reached for something, anything, but coherent thought squirted through his grasp like slippery eels.

_I don't...what's happening? Specs?_

Noct tried to call out for his retainer - Ignis would know, he always knew - but the only sound that tumbled out of his mouth was a low, scratchy moan. Noct tried again but his vocal chords refused to cooperate, and the effort sapped what little strength he had. _Specs. Specs! Where...?_

"Shit, is he awake?" The voice that rolled through him was vaguely familiar, but not. It wasn't the one he wanted, anyway, so Noct's interest slid away.

_Iggy,_ he tried again. Closer, this time. A drawn out "Iggg" passed his lips.

"Maybe." A rough hand grabbed his hair and yanked his head up. Noct groaned as the motion set off fireworks of hot pain. "Don't know that he's really awake, but he ain't out of it anymore."

"What's the difference?"

A sigh. "Forget it." The grip in his hair thankfully disappeared, letting his head fall back down. Who were these people? Where was Specs? And...and...Prompto? Gladio?

Under the pain, a ripple of fear began to spread. He was alone. He thought he was alone? It was so hard to think around the fist that was mercilessly squeezing his brains. If his chamberlain wasn't by his side, then he must be alone. But why? Specs would never leave him. Never. Ever. The fear intensified. He reached for...something, but whatever it was he wanted it wasn't there.

The strange, sickening motion stopped - _I'm being carried? Like potatoes?_ \- and then he was flipped upright and shoved back down. His back hit something long and flat, kind of soft, and his head bounced off the same surface. The impact set off another round of explosions, and Noct groaned. The pressure in his skull was almost unbearable.

Two thumps, and then, "Think he'll make it?" The surface under Noct's body began to rumble and a deep growl filled the air.

"Who knows. Head wounds are tricky bastards."

"Well, he don't have to live long. Just long enough."

_Long enough for what,_ Noct wanted to ask. But his awareness was already skittering away from him again, too fast for him to pull it back.

____________________

_Is he serious? He's serious. Of course he is, this is Iggy we're talking about here. Okay then. Wow._

Prompto watched dumbfounded as Ignis walked away from him. Okay so maybe 'walked' was a bit generous because Iggy was moving like he was on the wrong end of a three-day bender, and that wasn't surprising since healing magic was great but it couldn't refill Iggy with blood. The fact that he was upright and moving at all was a godsdamn miracle in Prompto's humble opinion, and he really ought not to get surprised anymore when one of Noct's retainers did something that most normals would consider crazy. He already had a pretty good idea of how intense Iggy could get about stuff - he'd been legit terrified of the dude for like, years - but right now Noct's chamberlain was staggering away with an attitude that was closer to "murderous" than it was to "intense". It was kinda fucking scary, no lie. 

It wasn't that Prompto didn't want to rescue Noct; of course he wanted to get Noct back. Noct was his best friend, for gods' sake, and the thought of his friend hurt and alone in the hands of those fucking _assholes_ was just...there were no words. They needed to rescue him, obviously. But Prompto also knew that Noct would never forgive him if he let Iggy kill himself in the attempt. And maybe Ignis was charging - shuffling - forward like he was a-okay, but honestly, he looked like he was one stiff breeze from being blown over into his grave. Prompto sighed and chased after Ignis, which didn't take much effort.

"Hey, hey, Igs, wait up a minute." Prompto caught the advisor by the arm. He didn't miss the way the limb trembled in his grip.

"What is it?" Yep, Iggy was definitely mad. Like, really really mad. His tone was cold enough to freeze Ifrit's balls off.

"Look, I want to get Noct back as much as you do. I _do_, you know I do," Prompto insisted as the other man pressed his lips into a thin, bloodless line. "But we're not going to be any use to him, not like this. Maybe if Gladio was here..."

"We have no idea where Gladiolus has gone off to. He may be days away." The chamberlain tugged his arm out of Prompto's grasp and lurched forward again. "Noct can't wait that long."

"Yeah I know that, but we're not gonna find him like this, Iggy. What are we gonna follow? I mean, I don't about you, but I'm no tracker. I can't read signs in leaves and shit."

The sound logic of Prompto's words must have finally shoved aside the irrational rage monster that was gnawing on Ignis' brain, because the advisor paused. "We need help," he said quietly.

"Yes!" Prompto agreed enthusiastically. _Finally._ He pumped a mental fist in victory. If there was one thing that Prompto had learned about Noct's retainer over the past few years, it was that he was really fucking stubborn. Not in like a rude, aggressive sort of way, but in a way that sort of politely yet firmly suggested that the world would inevitably come around to his point of view, so everyone might as well save some valuable time and skip right over the arguing and do as he said. And most of the time, Prompto did just that. But this time...man, if there was ever a time when Iggy was doing the wrong thing, this would be it. "So I think we should go get the Regalia, head back to Meldacio - "

"No," Ignis interrupted Prompto. "We don't have time for that." He angrily yanked his phone out of his pocket with a vicious tug and stabbed at the screen with a shaking finger. "Damn it all. I should have thought of this right away."

"Who...?" Ignis shook his head, cutting off the blonde once more. 

Ignis settled himself heavily on a fallen log as he spoke quietly to the mystery person on the other end of the line. While he was distracted, Prompto took the opportunity to inspect Noct's chamberlain. Iggy was normally pretty pale, but now he almost looked translucent. The harsh halo of their freehand lights cast dark shadows across his face, deepening the hollows of his eyes and cheeks. He was hunched over and shivering hard despite the warm stickiness of the air, and if Prompto whipped out a dictionary - he didn't have one, obviously, but would bet that Iggy had one tucked away in the armiger somewhere - he was pretty sure a picture of the chamberlain would be pasted under 'misery'.

There had been so much blood. Prompto didn't like, _love_ the sight of the stuff, but it usually didn't bother him much. Considering how some of their hunts turned out, it was probably a good thing none of them were squeamish. But Six...blood had literally been gushing from Ignis' side, bright red spurts erupting from the chamberlain like he was a fountain in one of the Citadel's gardens. By the time Prompto had skid to his knees in the slick, crimson grass by his friend's side, he was positive that there was more blood outside of Iggy's body than there was inside of it. Ignis' face had been a horrible pasty grey, his breath coming in shallow, bubbling gasps that sounded an awful lot like 'Noct'. It was enough to make Prompto want to vomit everywhere, and really the only reason he managed not to was because it would have been really gross, but also because he was sure it would have really upset Ignis to be puked on. If he hadn't been, well, bleeding to death at the moment.

Prompto had slapped an elixir in the advisor's hand and forced him to crush the vial. "Come on, come on," he'd muttered, gingerly lifting Iggy's sodden shirt so he could keep a close eye on the ugly little gunshot wound. He prayed to every single one of the Six that it would be enough, because they only had one phoenix down for this hunt and Prompto really, _really_ did not want to have to decide between using it on Iggy or saving it for Noct. The blonde vividly recalled Ignis standing in the general store just that morning, eyeing the large, bright feathers with the kind of longing he usually reserved for his sweet, sweet Ebonys, and then sighing and forking over some gil for a few regular potions and an elixir. He'd then turned to Prompto and Noct and forbade them from getting themselves killed. Kinda ironic now, considering. 

To his immense relief, the bleeding had begun to slow. It didn't totally stop, though, so Prompto had blindly yanked another out of the armiger, and this time - this time the wound reluctantly closed up, and Ignis' breathing became deeper, less desperate. The two elixirs had transformed Ignis from mostly dead to sort of alive, but much to the blonde's dismay, the wounded man had refused a third. Now, Prompto totally understood that they shouldn't waste curatives since they were somehow always short, but considering that Ignis was literally lying in a damn lake of his own blood, it had seemed like a good time to go all out. And then of course the advisor had the gall to insist that he was _fine._ As if Prompto didn't have a pair of working eyes.

"Prompto?" There was new fire in Iggy's voice, and the blonde guessed the news was good.

"Yeah?"

"Dave is willing to help us. He knows where those two may be hiding." 

"Dave? Really? That's fucking awesome." Dave. Of course. If anyone had info on those hunters, it would be the head hunter himself. The hard knot balled up in Prompto's chest loosened, just the tiniest bit. "So is he meeting up with us?"

"Yes. We'll convene at the Regalia. As luck would have it, he just arrived in Meldacio a few hours ago. He should be here shortly." 

"Great! Let's go." Prompto looked at Ignis expectantly. The sooner they rescued Noct, the sooner Prompto could see both of them back in civilization, tucked between nice, overly starchy hospital sheets. "Iggy?"

"I..." Ignis made a small, aborted move to get up and crashed back down onto his log. He squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep, ragged breath, coughed and then spat out something dark and ominous looking. 

"Oh. Here, I got you." Prompto extended his hand towards the advisor, who glared at it with an odd mix of gratitude and distaste. Ignis reluctantly took the proffered aid and allowed the blonde to haul him to his feet, where he swayed a bit before regaining his balance.

"Thank you." If nothing else, his thanks sounded genuine. 

"No problemo," Prompto replied as cheerfully as he could manage. He wasn't freaked out about Ignis' obvious weakness. Nope, nope, not at all. "To the Regalia?"

"Post haste," Ignis agreed.

The two men turned about face and began the long trek back to their car. They crashed through the brush with nothing but speed in mind, trying to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible. The faster they reached the Regalia and met with Dave, the faster Noct could be back by their side, safe and sound. Prompto wanted to let loose and set a lung-busting pace, but he held back since he wasn't sure that Iggy would be able to keep up for more than a few minutes, and no way Prompto was leaving him behind. Even so, it wasn't long before Ignis stumbled again with a strained curse. Prompto caught him by the arm, mindful not to yank too hard. 

"Whoa there," he said. "Are you okay?"

"Quiet," Ignis shushed him. "Get down."

"Uh, sure." Prompto crouched down next to the chamberlain. "What's up?"

Ignis gestured ahead. "Daemons," he murmured grimly. "It was naive of me to think we'd avoid them entirely. I had hoped."

Prompto peered through the thick foliage. He saw the telltale sickly purple glow, but couldn't make out what type of daemon they were facing.

"What kind?"

"Black flan, it seems."

"Ugh. Gross," Prompto groused. He didn't like flans of any sort, and that included the dessert kind. Ignis had made them try it once and Prompto had secretly thought it was too slimy and squishy. Not surprisingly, the daemon sort was the same way.

Ignis shot him a faintly amused glance. "You seem to think all our enemies are gross."

Prompto shrugged. "Well, yeah. That's cause most of the things trying to kill us are really ugly. And, you know, _they're trying to kill us._"

"Fair enough," Ignis murmured. He seemed alert, but sounded like he was having trouble catching his breath.

"Hey Iggy," he said quietly. "Seriously, you okay?" 

"I'm fine," Ignis snapped. "Please stop asking."

Well, if Ignis was going keep ignoring the fact he definitely wasn't fine, then Prompto was going to keep ignoring the chamberlain's growing annoyance and make sure that he didn't fall on his face and hurt himself again. "So what's the plan? Please tell me it involves a lot of running."

Ignis sighed. "That may be our best option."

"Great. So, on three? One, two..."

"No, wait!" Ignis grabbed Prompto's shirt just as the blonde was about to take off. "There's another one, at two o' clock." The chamberlain stretched his neck to catch a glimpse. "It appears to be a ziggurat. We certainly do not want to tangle with that creature."

"It's cutting off our way to the Regalia," Prompto hissed. 

"I know. We'll have to go around." Ignis clenched his fists in frustration. "This is taking far too long."

"Dave knows we're coming, though, right? He'll wait for us." Prompto wished he felt as confident as he sounded. 

"He had better. I'll be quite put out if he doesn't," Ignis muttered darkly. "Ready?"

Prompto gave a thumbs up.

The two men took off at a crouched sprint, doing their best to disturb as little of their surroundings as possible in order to avoid attention. Prompto tried to be quiet, he really did, but it seemed like the Vesperpool forest itself was against him. Every step seemed to snap a dry twig or kick a cluster of pebbles, and the blonde winced with every sound he made. Ignis, on the other hand, clearly had been holding out on them because the chamberlain seemed to possess some crazy ninja skills that allowed him to stagger through the underbrush in near silence.

Prompto used to love running at night. Every once in a while, he'd jog through the streets of Insomnia in the dark, enjoying the relative quiet and emptiness of the normally bustling city. It had been kinda strange, but in peaceful sort of way. Out here though, in the rural parts of Lucis, the darkness felt close and oppressive, which was weird because there was nothing but wide open space out here. Knowing that there were daemons close by, ready and eager to chomp him to bits, also kinda put a damper on things.

Prompto kept Ignis by his side, matching him stride for stride, but after a while it was obvious that the chamberlain was starting to struggle. Despite the fact that Iggy was taller than him and about eighty percent leg, Prompto was inadvertently pulling ahead. The blonde had no idea whether the daemons were still behind him or whether they were long gone, but he definitely did not want to find out the hard way. He took Ignis by the elbow.

"Come on, Igster," Prompto gasped. "We can do this. Just a little farther, now." Prompto hoped he wasn't lying.

Ignis didn't bother wasting his breath to reply. Instead, he just pumped his legs faster, forcing himself to stay with Prompto. It was a bit awkward running with just one hand free, but Prompto kept a death grip on his friend's arm, unwilling to let the other man go down again. The world narrowed down to the swaths of light from their lamps, bobbing up and down as they raced for the road. Ignis' breathing was harsh in his ear, and Prompto prayed that the advisor would be able to hang on, just a little bit longer.

Prompto was certain that Iggy did his best - the advisor never gave less than a hundred ten percent - but in this case, his best wasn't enough. The ziggurat screamed in the void behind them, far closer than expected, and Ignis' stride faltered and then gave up altogether. The chamberlain stumbled and Prompto, who was still clutching Iggy's arm, was caught by surprise and went down with him. They hit the ground in a jumbled, tangled mass and it was only when they started rolling downwards that Prompto realized why Ignis had fallen.

"Shit shit shit," Prompto muttered when they finally skid to a halt. "That was not fun." He groaned as he pushed himself off Ignis. Every pebble in Eos had apparently been scattered on the path they'd gone down, because that ride had definitely not been smooth. "Iggy?"

When there was no immediate answer, Prompto's brain jumped directly from exasperation to panic. "Iggy? Hey Igs? You with me, buddy?" He unclipped his light and shined it directly onto the still form of the chamberlain. Ignis had landed on his side, facing away from Prompto. His shirt had been grey when they'd set out in the morning; now, the expanse of Ignis' back was a dark, rusty red. Astrals, today really fucking sucked. 

Prompto had just reached out to shake Ignis' shoulder when the other man jerked and gasped. "Iggy?"

"Yes," Ignis groaned. He rolled over, arm wound tightly around his middle. "Prompto? What - are you alright?"

Before Prompto could answer, another wild shriek blasted through the night air. "I was way better before I heard that," the blonde said, his head whipping around. "Uh... I think we might have some company!"

Prompto scrambled to his feet, his trusty pistol appearing in his hands with a blue flash. He pointed his gun into the darkness, finger resting lightly on the trigger, peering out with wide eyes, but all he saw was trees, boulders and more trees. On second thought, Prompto decided he didn't mind the pebbles that lined their slide down. It was way better than bashing into a tree. "Iggy? I'm thinking we should get out of here asap." They couldn't be that far from the Regalia.

"Yes," Ignis mumbled. "Excellent idea."

The ziggurat literally came out of nowhere. Prompto only had a split second to get his shot off before the daemon slammed into him. He was pretty sure he hit the ugly thing, but then it didn't matter much as long, razor-sharp claws slashed at him. The blonde went down hard, screaming as he felt his skin split under the attack. As he rolled away, he thought he heard Ignis shouting his name, but had no time to figure out what it was that his friend wanted. The ziggurat pounced once more, and Prompto swapped out his handgun for the auto crossbow. He blasted the weapon at the daemon, once, twice, three times, desperately attempting to put some space between himself and the lethal creature. The daemon staggered back, momentarily stunned by Prompto's counterattack, and the blonde felt himself yanked back into the brush. He frantically swung around, expecting another enemy, only to come face to face with the chamberlain's pale figure.

"Here," Ignis whispered, pressing a potion into Prompto's hand. "Do you need something stronger?"

Promtpo crushed the vial and sighed in relief as the sharp pain scoring his ribs faded away. "Nah, I'm good. What do you - " He didn't get to finish as Ignis shoved him sideways and stabbed forward with his polearm. The blade-tipped staff sank into the ziggurat's torso and became stuck. Ignis vanished his weapon and recalled it, stumbling back as the incensed daemon darted forward. The chamberlain drove at it once more, but it seemed to Prompto that the attack didn't have the same power that it normally did. Shoving down his fear for his ailing friend, Prompto summoned his handgun once more and fired several rounds into the creature's back. "Come on, come on," Prompto grunted. "Will you die already?"

The ziggurat was clearly not in a cooperative mood, because it whirled, swiping at the blonde with the long scythes attached to its arms. Prompto danced back and just barely avoided being vivisected. There was little time to celebrate his escape, however, as something detonated near his feet and sent him flying. 

It was probably a miracle that he didn't break his back against a giant rock or something, but Prompto wasn't feeling particularly lucky as he landed hard on his shoulder. A cry was wrenched from him as he felt the joint pop out in a sickening grind of bone against bone. Fire engulfed his entire arm and he rolled onto his side, cradling the dislocated limb close against his body. _Move, you gotta move,_ his brain screamed at him. _Easier said than done,_ he retorted back. Still, his brain had a point. He was basically free daemon lunch meat lying unprotected on the ground. The blonde summoned his gun. _There. Not unprotected anymore._

"Prompto? Prompto! Answer me!" 

Ignis' Tenebraean accent cut through Prompto's pain-riddled thoughts. "Iggy? Over here!" 

The advisor came bursting through the trees, his face like white stone and his daggers in hand like some sort of avenging hero straight out of one of Prompto's old comic books. His eyes widened as he saw Prompto huddled on the ground. "Prompto," he panted. "This is no time for a lie down."

"Could have fooled me," Prompto muttered hoarsely. Ignis reached down and hauled him to his feet. 

"Are you hurt?" 

"My shoulder. Popped the joint."

"It will have to wait, unfortunately," Ignis murmured regretfully. He glanced behind him. "For now, I believe we should run."

There was no argument from Prompto as the two men took off in an adrenaline-fueled sprint. Tree branched whipped across Prompto's face and each step sent a spike of pain through his chest, and he was convinced that the daemon would ambush them at any moment and slice them to shreds. All in all, the blonde rated their race through the Vesperpool woods as one of his top five worst runs ever. Maybe top three.

Prompto swore that he'd never been happier in his life when their car finally came into view, gleaming and gorgeous under the anti-daemon lights. Forget Cindy; the Regalia was the only lovely lady Prompto needed in his life. As he and Ignis hurtled towards the safety of the parking spot, he caught sight of Dave with a hunting rifle cocked and ready, pointed into the dark maw of the forest. An older, short-haired woman that Prompto had never seen before was standing by his side, armed with a heavy crossbow. They kept their weapons up until the two friends tumbled onto the dirt path and collapsed against the Regalia's hood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Erm, not a physician...please take description of injuries and survivability of said injuries with a large salt lick. Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

"You boys look like you've had a night," Dave said, lowering his rifle and propping it up against his truck.

"An understatement," Ignis gasped.

"Ugh," Prompto agreed. He lifted his good hand in a quick greeting and then let it flop back down. The sudden lack of motion was almost sickening.

"Wasn't there another one of you? Big fella?"

"Nah, Gladio's doing his own thing," Prompto huffed. "It's just us." He slithered off the hood and landed on his butt with a grunt, feeling shaky and unbalanced. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to breathe evenly through his nose. Gods, his shoulder was _killing_ him. 

A gloved hand landed lightly on his head. "Prompto. Let me see to your arm."

The blonde held his injured limb close. "It hurts," he moaned. He didn't want anyone to touch it.

"I know it does," the chamberlain said gently, "but we won't be able to use curatives unless we reset it immediately."

Ignis crouched down next to him in the Regalia's shadow. Careful fingers probed at the misshapen joint and Prompto bit his lip to keep from crying out loud. He'd been through worse. Hells, Iggy had been through worse just that night. So had Noct. This was nothing, right? Right. Sure. Besides, he was of no use to Noct or Iggy with a messed-up arm.

"I won't be able to push the joint in myself," Ignis murmured. "The muscles around it have already begun to stiffen." The chamberlain called out to the head hunter. "Could I ask for your assistance?"

Dave ambled over. "What do you need?"

"Prompto's shoulder needs to be relocated. I shall brace him from the back, if you'd be willing to maneuver the joint into place."

The heavily tattooed hunter scratched at this head as he stared down at them. "Don't you think we should let a doctor do that?"

"As long as the bones are in their proper place, curatives can heal whatever damage remains. We must act quickly, though."

An uncertain frown pulled at Dave's brow. "If you say so," he drawed. 

The next five minutes were ones that Prompto wanted erase from his memory. Hot pain soon gave way to the cool, soothing touch of the potion that Ignis handed to him. The blonde sighed as all the aches and scrapes he'd picked up also faded, leaving him more refreshed.

"Thanks," Prompto said. "Let's not do that again anytime soon." He bounced up to his feet, and Ignis followed much more sedately. As soon as he straightened and fully exposed his blood-soaked clothing to the bright lights, Dave whistled in shock.

"Well, shit. What in the hells happened to you?" the head hunter asked.

"Nothing to be concerned about," Ignis replied. It would have been more convincing if he wasn't leaning against the Regalia, so noticeably using it as a crutch.

"He was shot," Prompto supplied. "Like, almost to death."

Dave gaped at the chamberlain. "Damn. So that blood's all yours? Can't believe you're still on your feet."

"That makes two of us," Prompto confided. He shrugged at the annoyed look that Iggy fired at him.

The head hunter shook his head. "Don't know that it'll help much but I got some extra potions, if you want one."

"No. They'd be wasted on me at this point." Ignis frowned and pressed his hand against his side, right over the spot where the near-deadly wound had been. "Let's be off. We've already delayed too long as it is."

Dave frowned. "Alright, suit yourself. I'd hoped to bring more reinforcements, but most of hunters had already deployed by the time I got to Meldacio," the older hunter said. He jerked his thumb at the woman by his side. "'Fraid me and Lucie are the only help you boys got."

Prompto waved at the woman and Ignis nodded his head in greeting. "We're much obliged."

"Was only a matter of time before Tet and Bern did somethin' stupid. Didn't think they'd be this fuckin' dumb, though." Lucie turned her head and spat in the dirt. "Someone's gotta show them the error of their ways."

"We couldn't agree more," Ignis said. The tone of his voice made Prompto shiver. 

"Uh huh. You sure you should be comin' along?" Lucie's gaze raked over Ignis' stooped, bloody figure. "Maybe it'd be better for you to sit this one out."

"Absolutely not," Ignis snapped.

"You're not gonna be much help if you can barely stand up straight," Lucie pointed out bluntly.

Ignis stiffened, unconsciously throwing his shoulders back. Prompto cringed a bit on the inside - it wasn't the hunters' fault that they had no idea what Iggy was like when it came to Noct. Even if they somehow managed to leave Iggy behind, Prompto was pretty damn sure he'd end up following them somehow, even if the advisor had to crawl the entire way. "I'm going, and that is the end of discussion," Ignis said icily. "He is _my_ king. If you find that disagreeable, you're welcome to withdraw your aid."

Lucie's eyes narrowed and for a split second, Prompto thought she might continue arguing. A part of him kinda hoped she might. And then something in her expression loosened and she nonchalantly waved at Ignis. "It's your funeral."

"Alright then," the head hunter said, still eyeing Ignis skeptically. "Let's go. I'll drive." A great idea. Prompto knew he liked Dave for a reason.

Lucie opened the door to the cab of the pickup truck and gestured for the two men to get in. Prompto got the hint and climbed into the back with Ignis. It was roomier than he'd expected, but still not roomy enough to accommodate Ignis' long frame. Iggy sat with his knees pressed up against the driver's seat, his posture screaming 'cramped' and 'uncomfortable'. His brow furrowed as the blonde buckled in next to him.

"If you throw up on me, things will not end well for you," Ignis muttered.

Prompto raised his hands in mock surrender. Just one teeny motion sickness-related pukefest in the back of the Regalia and no one would ever let him forget it. "Straight to the top of your shit list, right?"

"Well, perhaps not the very top. You're lucky we have bigger fish to fry at the moment." Ignis dredged up a faint smile. Despite it, he looked totally wiped out.

"You okay there, Iggy?" Prompto asked quietly.

Ignis shot him an exasperated look and Prompto shrugged. "Yeah, I know. But are you?"

"Save your concern for Noct," Ignis replied.

"Oh don't you worry Igs, I've got _plenty_ of concern to go around," Prompto muttered. "More concern than you can shake a stick at."

Dave started up the engine on his reinforced truck and he spoke as they took off. "Tet and Bern have a small homestead up in the mountains north of HQ. My guess is that they've taken your boy there. It's gonna take a few hours to get there, so rest up while you can."

"Why would they do this?" Prompto asked. "We've haven't done anything to them. They're the ones that bothered _us_, not the other way around."

Lucie shrugged. "Tet's a mean fucker. Always has been, and he's only gotten worse since his family's been killed. Guess it was too much to ask for Bern to keep him in line."

Dave cleared his throat. "There've also been those rumors..." He trailed off.

"Yeah, that too," Lucie agreed. 

"What rumors?" Ignis asked sharply.

The two older hunters shared a loaded glance. Prompto hated that look - it usually meant that he was about to be gut-punched by something nasty in the next few seconds. "Well, I've heard rumblings that the Empire might have put a bounty on the king's head," Dave said.

"_What?_" 

"Look, most of the folk out here would rather cut off their own arms than help the Nifs, whatever the reward. We've survived by helping each other, not by sellin' each other out," Dave said. 

"But you think that those two might hand Noct over," Ignis said, insistent. 

"I don't know. I sure hope they wouldn't be that stupid," Dave said. Lucie snorted contemptuously. "Best we get there fast enough so we don't have to find out."

"I still don't get it," Prompto said. "I mean, what happened to him was awful and all, but it's not like Noct had anything to do with that dude's family getting killed. And it's not like he's the only one that lost people he loved to the Empire. We all have." People they hadn't had time to properly mourn since the Crown City had fallen. Prompto's parents may not have been the most...present, but he liked to think that they'd done the best they could. And now he was faced with the possibility of losing his best friend... He shoved those thoughts way far back, as far back as he could. _Not now._

"I know, but it's more than that. Life out here's rough and been gettin' rougher, ever since the old king drew back the Wall. And I know it's not Noctis' fault," he continued, cutting off a protest from Ignis, "but he's City. Y'all are. And for some out here, that might mean you're outside our protection, because you left us outside of yours."

"But the Kingsglaive used to patrol around here, right? And we've been doing hunts and stuff. We're trying to help," Prompto argued plaintively.

"Yeah, you are, and I appreciate that. But maybe other hunters are gonna see your fancy car and your fancy magic tricks and wonder why we don't have none of that," the older hunter replied.

"The magic is drawn from Noct's connection to the Crystal," Ignis said wearily. "Even if the Wall had been left in place, you still wouldn't be able to access it."

"Sure," Dave said. "But maybe it wouldn't have mattered if the king was still protecting us."

"It must have been a terribly difficult decision," Ignis murmured softly. "To choose between defending your people or the one thing that can hold off the enemy."

Silence ruled the truck as the four occupants mulled over their situation. Prompto had never been outside the Crown City until he'd left as part of Noct's bachelor escort, and everyone they'd met had been so friendly. Or so Prompto had thought. _Man, it's like high school all over again,_ Prompto mused with a shudder. _People are nice to your face and then turn around and say a bunch of mean shit behind your back._ Except out here, they skipped right over the snide gossip and went straight to kidnapping and attempted murder. 

Fear for Noct churned hot and sour in Prompto's stomach as they drove. He hadn't been close enough to really see the aftermath of the shot that had caught his friend, but it had looked bad. So, so bad. Prompto knew firearms, and he knew exactly how much damage even a graze could cause, especially when fired from a high powered rifle like the one shrimpy hunter number two apparently carried. Even if the bullet hadn't actually gone through Noct's skull, it could have still... Anyway, whatever. Prompto wasn't gonna think about because Noctis would be fine. They could still access the armiger, so he was obviously still alive. Everyone knew that head wounds bled like crazy, and so it probably had looked way worse than it actually was. He was sure of it. Plus, Ignis seemed convinced that Noct would be fine, and as far as Prompto could tell, the advisor knew everything. Him and Iggy and Dave and Lucie - _look, buddy, we made a new friend while you were being held hostage, although I'm not sure Iggy likes her much_ \- would find Noct, take down the bad guys and Noct would be all like, hey thanks for saving my royal butt.

Dave turned the truck off the main road and began to climb a winding dirt road up a rocky slope. Prompto pulled his guns out of the armiger just in case some unwelcome visitors popped up out of the ground, and he felt Ignis draw out his daggers. Prompto didn't ask what Iggy thought he'd do with them, mostly because he didn't want to be stabbed when this was all over.

After a while, the road became steeper and Dave slowed the truck even further as he carefully navigated the curvy, bumpy road. As frustrating as it was to crawl up the hills, no one wanted to pop a tire or crash in Nowheresville during the dead of night, so Prompto bit his tongue and caught Ignis clenching his fists rather than complaining about their speed of travel. The trees became sparser as they ascended, struggling to grow in the poor, gravelly soil. Above the canopy, the sky opened up before them in a beautiful gradient of the deepest, darkest navy blue, still speckled with a swath of glittering stars, to a strip of light cerulean hugging the black, jagged profile of the mountains. The sight of pure sky still stirred a sense of awe in Prompto - the light pollution in Insomnia had always diluted out the purity of the approaching dawn. They reached the top of a tall, sheer cliff and found themselves staring down into a shallow valley, where roughly hewn posts hung with intense lamps illuminated a small cabin sitting in a glen, surrounded by a dense shroud of trees.

Prompto leaned forward in his seat. Raw anticipation rose up inside of him, leaving him jittery and oversensitized. "Is that it?"

"That's it," Dave confirmed. 

Noct was down there. Prompto was sure of it. Noct was down there, and maybe he wouldn't be in the best shape, but that didn't matter, because they were gonna get him back. He only needed to be alive, nothing more. Him and Iggy would take care of the rest. Assuming that Iggy didn't end up on his ass, of course.

_Hang on, Noct. We're coming for you._


	5. Chapter 5

Nothing had changed the next time he came to. Or maybe it had, because now it seemed that he was lying on his side rather than flapping around upside down. His head still shrieked with pain, but someone had turned down volume enough so that he was actually able to string together a series of coherent thoughts. One of those thoughts was that his face was sticky and itchy, and that perhaps there was hair stuck to his forehead. When he went to swipe it away, however, Noct found that his hands refused to obey.

"Wha...?" The question became stuck in Noct's bone-dry throat and he coughed to try and get them out. It ended up being, as Specs would have put it, a rather ill-advised course of action.

When the blinding agony relinquinshed its hold on the king and the world finally resettled, Noct peeled his eyes open. He found that he was indeed lying down, resting on a red woven rug that was spread on an unfinished floor. His knees were tucked loosely against his chest and one arm had gone numb from being crushed by the weight of his body. His disobedient hands were wrenched behind him, he discovered, and bound together by what felt like loops of thick, prickly rope. An experimental tug indicated that there was a short cord that connected his bound arms to his similarly imprisoned ankles. _Six, what is this? What...What the fuck is going on?_

Noct shifted as he tried to relieve the pressure on his nerveless limb, wriggling and twisting like a spastic, half-strung marionette until his arm came free. The effort left him breathless and sick, and he swallowed convulsively to keep the contents of his stomach where they belonged. 

"You awake, princess?" 

_Gladio?_ But no, the familiar nickname was delivered in an unfamiliar, disembodied voice, and Noct was very confused until he realized that his eyes had slipped shut again. He pried them open and squinted up at a narrow face framed by dark hair that was slicked back into a ponytail. A long rifle was casually braced against the man's thin shoulder. The sight of him niggled at Noct's memory, but the trigger wasn't strong enough to shake out the information he wanted. He'd have to get it the hard way.

"Who..." Noct licked his lips and tasted something metallic. "Who are you?"

"You don't really need to know. We're not gonna be keepin' each other company for very long, anyway."

Noct frowned. "Why?" he croaked.

The man shrugged. "There are some people that're willing to fork over a lot of money for you, and we need it. Just business. It ain't personal. Not for me, anwyay." Noct lifted his head and let his gaze track the other man as he sauntered over to a simple wooden chair and settled himself down into it. He set the rifle on his lap, clasping it comfortably. The world was merrily spinning, but the other man didn't seem to notice.

"I...what?" Noct rested his head against the floor, exhausted by the effort of holding it up.

"Never mind, boy. Go back to sleep."

_But why? What was happening?_ Noct grimaced as he tried to corral his whirling thoughts. Ignis was always so good at explaining things so that they made sense to Noct. He needed his chamberlain - where was he? Iggy was always there when Noct needed him. He should be here.

"Specs?" Noct moaned. "Where?"

The chair creaked as the man shifted. "Specs? Like spectacles? That the tall one was with you?"

"Mmm," Noct agreed. "Is 'e... is he here?"

There was a beat of silence. "'He's dead."

_He's dead. He's...dead? Specs?_ Noct huffed out a rusty chuckle. What complete fucking nonsense. Ignis wasn't dead. Of course he wasn't dead. Noct had just been with him...when? That morning? Yesterday? What time was it? Ignis wasn't dead. He was very much alive. "No. He's not."

"He is," the other man said quietly. "Shot him myself, caught him center mass. There's no way he survived."

"No," the king denied. The pressure in Noct's head was back in full force. His skull was being crushed and his eyeballs were being liquefied. "_No._"

"Yeah, kid," The other man's tone was gentle, and laced with something that almost sounded like regret. "The bullet blew out some important stuff. He's gone."

"No. No no no," Noct repeated, blinking rapidly. Lies. This man was full of godsdamn lies. Of course he was; Noct was trussed up like a pig ready for a roast. Clearly, this man was a grade-A asshole. Assholes were not to be trusted. It was good logic. Besides, Noct would know. He'd know if his oldest friend, his confidante, his guide, his everything was dead. He'd _know_, because the universe would collapse in on itself and cease to exist.

Noct's chest began to heave as he weakly tried to wrench his arms apart. It wasn't true, obviously it wasn't true, but Noct suddenly had a burning need to see Ignis for himself. He needed to see, needed to touch and smell and hear his Specs, just in case. _He's not. He can't be. I never... I never told him..._ But first, he needed the blinding pain to go away, and he needed to get these fucking ropes off. Noct gasped as he struggled. He needed...something sharp? Yes. To cut the ropes. Then he could run and find his friends. It was a great plan, and he was certain that Ignis would be very proud of him. Iggy always was. That's why he was the best, even during those times when he was being annoying and making Noct do things he didn't want to but needed to and Noct kinda sorta just wanted him to go away and leave him alone. But Specs never did. He never left. Tears spilled out of the corners of his eyes and down his cheeks. _Gods, Iggy. Please...I need to tell you._

Noct reached for the glowing center of his being. It was an instinctive thing - he knew that what he needed was there. He just had to grab hold and yank out what he needed. Something sharp. A knife. A dagger. It slid away from his grasp, refusing to yield to his wishes. _Come on_, he urged. _Come on, I need it. Give it to me._ Noct tried and tried again, but there was simply no purchase to be had. His magic - _magic, right, that's it_ \- was failing him. There was no room in his hand for a weapon to appear, and so the things he so desperately wanted remained out of his clutches.

He was getting ready to burn the ropes off his arms when there was a loud bang. Noct jerked in surprise and lost his tenuous grip on the fire spell he'd been coaxing out. Six, but he was fucking exhausted. Magic wasn't supposed to be this tiring. Worry gnawed at the back of his mind, but it was drowned out by a litany of _Specs isn't dead._

"The fuck is he doin'?" There was a new voice, rough and deep. "Is that smoke?"

"Looks like," said the dickhead who'd claimed to have killed Ignis.

"What the fuck, Bern? I told you to watch him."

"I am," said the asshole - Bern, apparently. Noct didn't much care. "Think the Nifs'll care if he burns his fingers off?"

_Nifs? What?_ A swell of hatred ballooned inside of him. What did the Empire have to do with anything? Noct twitched. He needed to get out of here.

"Who knows," said the new man. "Hey," he continued loudly. The king flinched when a large hand reached down and seized him by the front of the shirt, lifting him half off the floor. "You awake, little man?"

Noct groaned in response. The careless handling reignited the firestorm in his head, but he managed to slap his glare on the face that loomed above him. It was familiar. He knew this man. "I know you," Noct slurred.

"Good for you," the man said. _What was his name? Tub? Tev?_ Something like that. "I got some people comin' that are gonna be real happy to get their filthy hands on you."

Well, that didn't sound good. It was just one more reason why Noct had to go. "Who?"

Tub - Tubby? - laughed. It wasn't a happy sound. "You damn bastard kings left us to the Nifs. Now you get to have a taste of their mercy."

"No," Noct breathed. "You can't." He was being handed over to Imperials? His brain might have been fucked two ways from Sunday, but even Noct could figure out that it would not end well for him. He'd never see Ignis again, would never confirm that Iggy was alive and well. Prompto, Gladio...he didn't want to leave them. Panic set in as Noct began to awkwardly thrash in Tubby's hold, fighting the grip on his clothes as much as he was fighting his own bound ankles and wrists.

"Don't tell me I can't, you little shit. That's what's wrong with you City assholes, you know? You're entitled as fuck." The older man suddenly released Noct who flopped back down onto his back with a muffled groan of pain. "It's time for you to shut up, I'm tired of listenin' to you talk."

Tubby's heavy, steel-toed boot crashed into Noct's side and he gagged as the dull force of it bent his rib and chased the air out of his lungs. The boot drew back again and whether it landed another blow, Noct never knew. Reality spiraled away from him and he sank back into unconsciousness.

____________________

The ride out to the homestead seemed interminably long. Not that he wasn't grateful for Dave and Lucie's help - he was, extremely and unreservedly so, despite Lucie's unfortunate attitude - but for the love of Shiva, he wished they could just go faster. Not only because Ignis was desperate to set eyes on Noct once more, but also because he was losing the battle to stay awake. Despite the fact that he knew the wound must be healed - however tenuously - hot stabs of remembered pain still echoed through him with every bump in the road, sapping what little energy he had. He'd briefly been concerned that he'd somehow torn himself back open after their inconvenient scuffle with the daemon, but his clothes had thankfully remained dry. Regardless, Ignis was being slowly smothered by bone deep fatigue, and he feared that he would fall to it at the worst possible moment. Apparently, the low level of adrenaline still humming through his veins was a poor substitute for actual blood. 

Lucie was blatantly scrutinizing him through the rearview mirror, and after she'd openly questioned his will to continue, Ignis had no intention of allowing her see another hint of infirmity. He was also acutely aware of the anxious glances that Prompto was throwing at him, and the chamberlain didn't know whether it was in solidarity over their shared concern for Noct or whether it was because the blonde was still wasting his energy worrying over him. Ignis knew that Prompto meant well, but his constant questions over Ignis' health only served to remind the advisor that his condition was less than ideal. That his weakness could cost Noct's life. That it already might have. He bit back the urge to snarl again at the blonde - _like a wounded animal_, his subconscious noted - and instead settled for pinching his own thigh as hard as he could, viciously digging his fingertips deep into the muscle. The resulting jolt was enough to prop his eyelids open and clear his head a bit. 

"Is that it?" Prompto's voice startled Ignis and his eyes snapped open. _Is that what_?

"That's it."

Prompto. The hunters. _Noct_.

Ignis clenched his trembling hands around the grips of his daggers, which took an unnecessarily large amount of effort. He hoped that no one in the truck noticed his momentary lapse.

The truck rolled to a halt and Dave and Lucie jumped out. Ignis took a deep breath and gathered up the tattered remains of his strength. _Noct is close by. He must be,_ the chamberlain thought. _He's depending on you. Don't you dare fail him again._ He clambered out after Prompto and forced himself steady on shaking legs as he exited the cab, praying that they would hold his weight.

Prompto sidled up to him and casually pressed his shoulder against Ignis' side as they walked towards the edge of the cliff, and the chamberlain resented the need for support even as he accepted it with a measure of relief, leaning heavily against the smaller man. He would have to do something nice for Prompto when this was all over and Noct was back by their side, safe and whole. Together, they stared down into the valley as the world around them ever so gradually begin to lighten. 

"I can see Bern's truck. They're definitely down there," Lucie said.

"Apparently we're not the only ones interested in this location," Ignis replied, blinking slowly. As the others peered down, he'd looked up into the sky and was not pleased with what he saw. Ignis half-heartedly hoped that it was a figment of his overtired imagination, but he doubted he'd be that lucky.

"What?" Prompto's head shot up. "Oh shit. Is that what I think it is?"

"Nifs," Dave snarled. "Just fuckin' great. How'd they get here so fast?"

"They're flying, dumbass, that's how," Lucie replied.

Dave glared at his partner. "Yeah, I can see that. What I meant was how'd Tet and Bern contact them so fast?"

"Maybe they got a special hotline or somethin'. Who knows, and who cares? The bastards are here."

"Maybe it's just a coincidence," Prompto suggested. "They might just fly by, right?"

"We can only hope, but I'm afraid our hopes will be for naught," Ignis said. He squinted into the distance. The sleek aircraft briefly split into two before converging once more. "It appears they're searching for a place to land."

"Well, looks like the rumors were true," Lucie said, her lips twisted with disgust. "And looks like Tet and Bern really are that dumb, those traitorous shits."

"It could be worse," Ignis murmured. Heart-thumping apprehension began pull at him, and he firmly shoved it away. Noct needed a calm, clear head to plan his rescue, not a panicked one. He tracked the imperial transport, trying to figure out where it would land. 

"How's that?" Dave asked, eyebrows climbing up.

"It's a scouting vessel, rather than a magitek engine. This location may have been difficult for us to reach, but it is equally difficult for the Empire to land any large aircraft or drop infantry nearby." Ignis paused to take a breath. "That plane will likely carry a small unit, perhaps one human officer and a few magitek soldiers. It will take them some time to reach the homestead."

"Think we can get there before they do?" Prompto asked.

"I'm not sure," Ignis answered. "But we need to try. We're already at a disadvantage considering we don't know many men are down in the cabin already."

"It's probably just Tet and Bern. Ain't many hunters willin' to put with Tet's temper," Dave informed them.

Ignis nodded in acknowledgement. "Regardless, it would be best if we split up." 

Lucie raised an eyebrow. "You sure about that?"

"I wouldn't have suggested it if I wasn't," Ignis said sharply.

The hunter crossed her heavily muscled arms. "Okay. Well, I'm not gonna be the one draggin' your sorry ass around."

The advisor bristled. He wasn't one to alienate allies, but his diplomatic patience was quickly wearing paper-thin. Not even the odious Councilman Ango, who'd hounded Ignis for years with barbed commentary on his age, background, hair, clothes - anything, really - had been so tiresome. "I'm perfectly fine with that."

"I'll pair up with Iggy," Prompto said quickly. "We make a great team, don't we, Igs?"

"Of course," Ignis muttered. He gave the blonde a small nod. Yes, Prompto deserved something nice. Something very, very nice.

"Alright. Me and Luce'll go for the the Nifs. We might be able to head 'em off before they get to the cabin," Dave said.

"Excellent," Ignis said. "A distraction should draw one of the kidnappers away, and then that will just leave one guarding Noct. Presumably."

Dave nodded. "We'll drive down together into the valley. Think you can handle Tet and Bern?"

"You bet we can," Prompto promised. His normally bright voice was steely and cool. It was the perfect accompaniment to Ignis' mood.

"Alright. Let's go then."

They trundled back into the truck and Dave led them down into the valley. With the Empire breathing down their necks, the older hunter had apparently decided to throw caution into the wind. They barreled down the steep dirt roads, some of them nothing more than animal paths, and the old truck bounced recklessly over exposed rocks and fallen trees. The urgency with which they were moving suited the chamberlain just fine, so he kept his expression smooth even as one of the tires hit a boulder that felt like the size of a garulet and sent a spasm of burning agony straight through his core. _Breathe through it_, he reminded himself. _This is nothing_. The ability to function at a high level even when in severe pain had literally been beaten into him as well as Gladio, and Ignis wasn't one to forget his training so easily. _Damn you, Gladio_, Ignis thought wearily. _You should be here_.

By the time Dave pulled the truck over and they disembarked once more, the sun had peeked over the horizon and pale beams filtered in through the trees, dappling the ground with light and shadow. Ignis regretted the loss of darkness; it would have been much easier to take the traitors unaware under the cover of night. They'd simply have to be as fast and efficient as possible, as there would be no room for error.

The head hunter yanked back the tarp covering the cargo bed of his pickup, and Ignis' eyes widened. Prompto's mouth fell open as he visibly gawked at pile of weapons that were stacked inside.

"Are...are these all yours?" Prompto asked. He reached out and picked up an old-fashioned, engraved revolver with a white bone grip, turning it over in his hands. 

"Some are Lucie's, but yeah most are mine. Got a lot of 'em as Winter Solstice presents." The older hunter scratched his neck and shrugged. "I didn't know what we'd be facin' so I loaded up."

"A wise idea," Ignis said. He gingerly hefted what appeared to be a homemade explosive in his hand. "Although I must admit I'm glad we didn't hit anything during our trip. I'm not certain we would have survived the collision."

"Most of 'em have got safeties," Dave said.

Prompto set the revolver down. "Most?"

"I think so, yeah."

"Oh. Good." Prompto took a step away from the truck, and then another. Lucie smirked at him.

Dave gestured towards the weapons. "If you boys think you'll need anything, grab it now. Can't be too prepared."

"Indeed." Ignis gave the explosive - it looked to be an improvised grenade - a cursory examination and then grabbed another two. He shoved them into Prompto's hands. "Take these. They may be useful."

"Shit, um...got it." The blonde obediently shoved them into the armiger. Lucie's eyebrows shot up as the explosives disappeared from his hands. "They're not gonna blow my fingers off, are they?" 

"Let's hope not." Ignis picked up a small, cylindrical object. "Is this a stun grenade?"

Dave nodded. "Flashbang, yeah."

"Perfect. Do you mind?"

"Nope. It's yours."

Ignis claimed two of the non-lethal weapons and passed another two to Prompto. He scanned the rest of the weapons and dismissed them. The personal ones he and Prompto already had were of better quality and more importantly, familiar to them. He watched as Lucie and Dave strapped themselves with belts of ammunition and secreted away as many handguns and hunting knives they could attach to their bodies. The head hunter finally hoisted a large mace onto his shoulder, while Lucie took up a large, powerful looking crossbow. Not for the first time Ignis was grateful for their instant access to Noct's magic and the endless storage space of the armiger. 

"Here." Dave tossed both him and Prompto small walkie-talkies. "Reception up here is shit. We'll be on channel one. Cabin should be due east from here."

"Thank you." Ignis hung the communicator from his belt. "Good luck."

"Same to you. We'll hold 'em off as long as we can." 

The chamberlain nodded and he inhaled deeply. The bouts of lightheadedness that had plagued him since being shot and healed seemed to recede and his focus sharpened as a surge of adrenaline stormed through him, accompanied by another cresting wave of deep, cold anger. Ignis took hold of his fury and used it to fuel himself and to sweep away his exhaustion and steadily growing aches. This was about Noct, and getting Noct back at all costs. Absolutely nothing else mattered.

The homestead was nestled in a small clearing that had clearly been cultivated at some point. The cabin was built of of large, sturdy logs that were snugly laced together into what appeared to be a cozy, one-story structure. A dilapidated truck, older than even the one that Dave drove, was parked nearby. The verdant glen was peaceful and quite lovely in the bright morning sunshine, which Ignis found oddly inappropriate considering the depravity of the men that were likely hiding inside. 

"So how do you want to do this?" Prompto asked.

"We need to get Noct's captors out of the cabin. if you can lure at least one of them away from here, I'll go in and retrieve Noctis." As much as he wanted to go in with both proverbial guns blazing and take apart the hunters with his bare hands, in his current condition...well. His own need for satisfaction would have to wait. Getting Noctis to safety was their first and only priority.

Prompto's fingers tapped a ragged rhythm against his belt and a cheerless smile curved his lips. "Can do. You got this, Iggy?"

"Yes." He held the image of Noct's limp, bloody form in his mind, clutching at it like a drowning man on a life ring. This would not be the last memory he had of his king. "And Prompto, don't hesitate to do anything you need to."

Prompto nodded solemnly. Message received. "Got it," the blonde said. "Let's get Noct and give 'em hell."


	6. Chapter 6

"What the hells is taking so long?"

The frustrated growl was the first thing Noct heard as he surfaced once more, and he had to say that he was getting very, very tired of waking up like this. After the marilith attack, pain had always been the first thing to greet him when he awoke in the mornings, and Noct would have been totally okay with never dealing with that again. It made him really, _really_ cranky. Understandably so, Iggy always assured him.

_Ignis_. And where was his advisor anyway? Was he on holiday or something? The idea stuck Noct as being super funny and he bit back a giggle. _It would probably be harder on Specs -_

The thought screeched to a halt as a new reality suddenly slammed down on Noct, a reality that was potentially lacking one Ignis Scientia. _It's not possible,_ Noct thought stubbornly. _Fuck that noise_. He'd already lost his home, his last remaining blood family. He refused to lose his friends, his best and oldest friend. The person he...well, that he loved, if he was gonna be forced to slap a word on it. He refused to consider a world where Specs wasn't by his side.

_I have to get out of here_. Noct tried to manuever his sluggish body into an upright position, but the room spun wildly and he found little success. 

"You awake again, you stubborn little bastard?" Heavy footsteps clomped towards him. "You're tougher than y'look, I'll give you that."

"Just leave 'im be, Tet. He ain't gonna be our problem much longer."

That voice. Noct remembered that voice; it was stamped indelibly into his bruised brain. This was the voice that had told him that Ignis was dead, that had described the horribly violent way in which he'd supposedly killed Noct's retainer. Noctis bared his teeth in a snarl. When he got out of these damn ropes, he was going to rip the owner of that voice into bloody little shreds for daring to tell the king such terrible lies. He was going to take his daggers - Iggy's favorites - and peel the skin off that creepy little man like a piece of fruit. He was going to - 

An incredibly loud blast outside the cabin startled Noct out of his murderous mental rampage. The pressure of the explosion blew out the windows, and Noct attempted to curl into a tighter ball to protect his face and neck from the glass shrapnel. Shouts of confused, shocked rage sounded from his two captors. Regardless of whether the people attacking the cabin were friends or foes, Noct felt a small twinge of satisfaction in knowing that whatever was going on outside was obviously not a part of his kidnappers' dumbass plan.

"What the fuck was that?" Tubby screamed.

"Hells if I know," Dead Man Walking replied. "Think we might... They blew up my fucking truck!"

Noct smirked coldly as he began to wriggle on the floor. As entertaining as it was to listen to his captors go off the rails, he needed to make good on their distraction. Inching along the floor like a caterpillar, Noct grit his teeth against the pounding in his head and ever so slowly began to work himself towards the door. He grimaced as small slivers of glass sliced into his unprotected arms, but he was on the move. There was no way he'd actually make it to the door, but it still felt good to try something rather than helplessly lying about. 

"Bern, get out there and see what the fuck is goin' on. If you see anyone, shoot their godsdamn heads off."

His bound hands and feet were obviously a problem. Without access to the weapons in the armiger, Noct recalled the fire spell he'd been attempting to cast during his last foray into consciousness. Or at least, he thought it had been the last time. Was it the last time? Exactly how long had he been trussed up like a cockatrice dinner? _Focus_, he snapped at himself. _Fire, now_. If he could control the release of power so that it was a slow, steady trickle, Noctis thought he'd be able to weaken the ropes enough to break through them.

Squirming across the floor and attending to the spell simultaneously was too much to ask from his overtaxed body, so Noctis abandoned his escape plan in favor of releasing his hands. _Come on, come on. Please_. The resounding boom of a second, more distant explosion filtered around the edges of his awareness as he squeezed his eyes shut and wrestled with the unpredictable energy of Ifrit's signature element. The smell of burning hemp finally began to fill his nose when a heavy blow crashed into his back. Noct's concentration shattered like the blown-out windows.

"You're more trouble than you're worth," Tubby growled as he yanked up on Noct's hair. "I shoulda just had Bern kill you all."

Involuntary tears began to stream from the corners of Noct's eyes from the horrible pull when a wondrously comforting, accented voice cut through his discomfort. "Noct, cover your ears!"

Well, those were directions he had no hope of following. It was probably a good thing his eyes were already closed because Ignis' words - _I knew it, fucking Six I knew he was still alive!_ \- were immediately followed by an intensely brilliant flash and a percussive clap that made Noct wonder if he'd been shot in the head again. On the bright side of things, the grip in his hair finally went away as Tubby suddenly released him and he flopped back onto the floor. On the not-so-bright side, Noct was pretty sure his eardrums had been pulverized.

A slender pair of arms encircled his shoulders and lifted from the floor to a sitting position. Disoriented and in agonizing pain once more, Noct weakly bucked against the hold. Something warm and slick trickled from his ears, and coherent thought was once more a thing that happened to other people. He wanted to lay down on the ground and just sleep, sleep and not wake until his head was no longer broken and all this shit was done and over with. The person holding him had other ideas, though; Noct was hauled to his feet and he was vaguely aware of his arm - _they're free?_ \- being slung over a pair of lean shoulders. The change in elevation lifted him from dazed to sickeningly dizzy and he moaned in objection. His protest was thoroughly ignored and instead he was dragged forward, his feet - also magically released - scrabbling for purchase. Hot air ghosted along his ear and he remotely wondered whether someone was trying to talk to him, but Noct couldn't hear anything over the choir of bells that was singing very loudly in his skull.

Whoever was towing Noctis along did so with relentless determination, continuing on even as Noct's body decided to stop pretending that it was capable of walking. He drooped bonelessly, allowing himself to be pulled along like a dead, floating fish riding a river current. At some point, they stopped moving and Noct was gently lowered to the ground. He slumped back against something hard and rough, unhappily noting that the earth beneath him was still spinning far too rapidly. _Sleep_, Noct thought muzzily. _Just wanna sleep..._

He'd almost slipped away when he was netted by a cool, soft web of magic, and Noct gasped at the sudden relief that it bestowed on him. The ringing in his ears faded away while the singing of birds, rustling of leaves and the distant pops of gunfire emerged to the forefront with crisp clarity. More importantly, the healing magic calmed the raging inferno in his head to a point where Noct didn't feel like he wanted to die just to escape it, _thank the fucking gods_. He became aware of a gloved hand cupping his cheek, and another carefully brushing his hair back off his forehead, which was...unexpected.

"Noct? Noct, can you hear me?" That rich voice, the one that had been a part of Noct's life for so long that he'd stupidly begun to take it for granted, filtered in through his restored hearing.

"Ignis?" If his voice cracked a bit at the end, neither man commented on it. Noct pried his eyes open and engaged in some champion-level blinking to clear the residual halos that still clung to his vision. And then there he was, crouched right in front of Noct in all his pale, bespectacled glory - his Iggy, very much alive and not shot to pieces. Noct gasped again as he clutched desperately at his advisor, sagging under the overwhelming avalanche of emotion that crashed down on him. He was enfolded into a tight, warm embrace, and Noct wasn't gonna lie - it was an amazing hug. Phenomenal. Maybe the best hug ever in the history of hugs.

"I'm here, Noct," Ignis murmured into his hair. "It's alright." Noct nodded, digging his nose into Specs' shoulder. He probably could have stayed where he was forever, but Ignis apparently wasn't as willing as he gently pushed the king away. "Noctis, here. Take this." The chamberlain pressed a hi-potion into his hands and helped him crack it open. He was still shaking like a newborn anak calf, but the second curative took the edge off the pain a little further. "I'm sorry I don't have anything stronger to give you. Do you need another?"

Noct shook his head and was elated when it didn't threaten to fall off. "It's fine."

"We don't have much time, I'm afraid. We need to get moving and get you to safety." 

What Noct needed was to bury his face in Iggy's chest again, to feel the other man breathe and listen to his heart beat and just _bask_, but he supposed that could wait until later. He nodded his assent and then pulled back, getting his first full look at Ignis and...was that all _blood_ soaked into Specs' shirt? Noct had assumed that Bern had been lying to him to make him lose hope of a rescue, but now, taking in Iggy's grisly form, he wasn't so sure. A burst of angry adrenaline suffused him.

"What...?" He reached out and brushed his fingers over Ignis' stained, stiff clothing.

"It's nothing. I'm fine now." Ignis offered him a small, tight-lipped smile. "Brace yourself, Noct. Up we go."

With a small grunt, Ignis lifted him to his feet like he was a child and Noct leaned heavily against his chamberlain, waiting to see whether his legs would hold. They did, and he nodded at Ignis. "I'm ready."

They only managed a few steps before an incensed roar sounded behind them. Noct's eyes widened as he glanced over his shoulder and caught a glimpse of Tubby, racing towards them with tears streaming from his eyes and his massive sword upraised for attack. His reflexes were still a step slow, his mind still a bit muddled because by the time he reached into the armiger, Ignis had already shoved him hard and sent him sprawling unceremoniously into the dirt.

The chamberlain stepped over his prone form, his polearm warping into his upraised hands. The staff appeared just in time to block a wild overhead blow from the large blade. Ignis seemed falter under the brutal weight of the attack and for one surreal second, Noct feared that Ignis would actually crumble. Noct held his breath and squinted disbelievingly at the two men that were locked together, but then the moment passed as the advisor rallied and heaved the larger man away with a guttural cry. Tubby lurched drunkenly, and the king realized his captor was still struggling under the disorienting effects of the flashbang detonation. Despite it, the hunter managed to stay on his feet and he glared at the two men.

"Shoulda stayed dead, boy," the older man growled. Noct assumed he was talking to Iggy, and a lead ball settled into the pit of his stomach. _How close...?_ Belatedly, Noct armed himself with a light, one-handed sword as he picked himself up. He would have preferred firearms at the moment, but their only one was missing. _Prompto,_ he thought, frowning through another surge of worry as he remembered that they'd been a party of three when this all started. _You'd better be okay._

Ignis asked, "Noct, are you alright?" He ignored Tubby's verbal bait.

"Yeah," the king replied. He stepped up beside Iggy and the chamberlain briefly glanced at him. Specs' face was ashen and pinched but his eyes were furious - he was maybe angrier than Noct had ever seen him, even more pissed than that one time when a trashy tabloid had insinuated that Noct was some sort of drug addict because the reporter had gotten a hacked list of his old pain meds. Noct was pretty sure that reporter was buried somewhere out in the Leiden desert. He'd have no complaints if Tubby here met the same fate.

Somewhat predictably, Ignis stepped in front of Noct, shielding the king with his own body. Noct would have rolled his eyes if Tubby hadn't chosen that moment to charge forward like a stampeding dualhorn. Iggy leaned forward to meet the the onrushing attack, his polearm sweeping the large blade away in one graceful arc and keeping Tubby at a distance with a follow-up jab. Noct warped away, intending to ambush the hunter from behind. They'd done this dance before, him and Specs. Years of sparring together, him and Specs and Gladio and later Prompto, meant that Noct knew Iggy's fighting style as well as he knew his own.

On paper, it wasn't even close to being a fair contest, not that Noct was interested in 'fair'. One Crownsguard and one royal, trained under the tutelage of the legendary Cor Leonis himself, against a man that was more used to hunting fauna and daemons than fighting human opponents. Throw in Noct's magic and access to the armiger, and the battle should have been over before it really even began. And maybe it would have ended differently, if Tubby hadn't somehow gotten inside Ignis' defenses and landed a lucky blow right in the solar plexus.

There was something off with Specs. It was subtle, but the slight drag in Iggy's footwork, the minute hesitation before his strikes, the way he was a bit hunched rather than standing tall and confident - it all screamed _something is really fucking wrong_ to Noctis. Iggy took pride in being a ruthless, efficient fighter. Those who didn't really know the chamberlain often mistook him for a soft bureaucrat, a yes-man to soothe Noctis' ego. And yeah okay, maybe Specs indulged him a lot - but only for like, important stuff - but that didn't mean Iggy was _soft_. Noct figured that there were only a few people that knew exactly how tough Specs was, and he was definitely one of those people.

So when that sneaky knee landed in Ignis' gut, Noctis expected his advisor to shake it off. The king had seen Specs take way worse when training with Gladio, and Noct knew for a fucking fact that Gladio did not pull his punches. Like ever. What Noct did not expect was for the chamberlain's face to go chalk white and for him to just fold to the ground like an unstrung puppet. The hunter loomed over Ignis' crumpled figure, weapon raised and murderous intent clear as the cloudless fucking sky.

"Specs! _No!_"

Noct warped in utter panic, and it was probably a miracle that he didn't end up in Cape Caem or something. Killing a man was surprisingly easier than he'd thought it would be; his razor sharp blade punched through Tubby's torso even more effortlessly than it would an unarmored voretooth. The two staggered backwards as the hunter released his own weapon and thrashed, trying to escape the cold metal that speared him. Noctis wrapped his free arm around the other man's body and yanked him intimately close as he wrenched his sword up into the hunter's heart. He held Tubby there until his chest stopped moving, until the king was sure that he wouldn't be able to hurt anyone ever again.

Dropping the sagging corpse, Noctis fell to his knees, dizzy and sick. He crawled a few short feet to Ignis' side and reached towards his retainer with trembling hands. Specs was still awake, white as a ghost and silently watching him with dull green eyes at half-mast, but he made no move to get up. His glasses had somehow managed to stay on his face, although they sat just slightly askew on his nose. He looked absolutely fucking terrible, and Noct felt the inappropriate and unkingly urge to burst into childish tears.

"Specs? You alright?" _Does he look alright to you, dumbass?_ "He's dead, Iggy. I killed him," Noctis choked out. "You're gonna be okay."__

_ __ _

_ __ _

He reached into the armiger for an elixir and found...nothing. No hi-potions either. Just one measly regular potion, and that was it. Nothing else. _Fuck. Fuck!_ Noct sucked in a deep breath and forced himself to get a grip. One weak curative was better than watching Specs fade away for some inexplicable reason, so Noctis snatched at it and was about to place it in Iggy's limp hand when the unmistakeable sound of a gun being cocked cracked through the still air.

"You're comin' with me, or I'm gonna blow that boy's fuckin' head off and finish him for good this time."


	7. Chapter 7

Prompto didn't really consider himself to be a 'Weapons Monthly' type of guy, but damn - blowing shit up was kinda fun. He wasn't really into using magic during battle - took too long to figure out what he wanted and he liked his guns just fine, thanks - but Prompto thought he could get used to tossing a couple grenades in lieu of a fire flask. 

After they split up with Dave and Lucie, Iggy had basically given him permission to wreak as much havoc as possible in order to draw some baddies away from Noct's position, and Prompto wasn't going to waste an opportunity like that. As much as he wanted to see Noct with his own eyes, to know that his friend was alive, Prompto trusted Iggy to get him out, and Six help whoever was dumb enough to stand in the advisor's way. 

The old pickup truck parked about twenty feet from the cabin was just begging to be hit, and Prompto wasn't one to pass up a good target. After making sure that Iggy was safely around the other side of the cabin, he measured the throw, pulled the pin from the small hand grenade with his teeth and launched it at the vehicle from his hiding spot at the edge of the clearing. And okay, so he hadn't meant to bounce it in the dirt and maybe it wasn't the best throw ever, but the explosive gently rolled along and bumped up against the front passenger side tire before blasting it to merry hell. _Whatevs, I'll take it!_ The resulting explosion was smaller than Prompto had expected, but the force of it still smashed the cabin's windows and, more satisfyingly, set the truck ablaze. 

"Score one for the good guys," Prompto muttered under his breath, watching the flames dance inside the truck cab. "And in three, two, one..."

A figure burst around the corner of the cabin and skid to a halt in front of the destroyed vehicle. It was Mr. Shrimpy, and he carried a long rifle in his hands. Prompto's eyes narrowed; that was the same weapon that had hurt his friends so badly, he was sure of it. He would never understand the urge some people had to hurt each other. Yeah, Prompto carried weapons and yeah, he knew how to use them, but rarely against other human beings. Daemons, fauna, Imperials: sure. People...not so much. Prompto was willing to make an exception in this case, though. The hunter gestured wildly, and the blonde was too far away to make out what the he said, but Prompto guessed that it was probably something angry and impolite. _Good,_ he thought vindictively. _You had that coming._

Shrimpy dude whirled around, his head slowly swiveling as he scanned the woods surrounding the cabin. He was obviously looking for the person who'd destroyed the truck, and Prompto immediately shrank back behind his tree. "Welp, that's my cue," he murmured. "Good luck, Igster. Get Noct out of there."

For a moment, Prompto contemplated trying to take the hunter out right there, but he was just on the edge of his effective firing range. It was too big a risk, there was too little cover for him to try and get closer, and if he missed, Shrimpy had a much larger gun with a much longer range. Nope, he was gonna have to go with plan B.

He summoned a second grenade and hurled it as far as he could. Prompto thought he had a pretty good arm, but it didn't get as far as he'd hoped before bumping into a tree. Throwing explosives in the forest was definitely not easy. Or safe. But it was chaos and noise that Prompto needed, and that's exactly what he got. As he'd hoped, the hunter began to stalk towards the site of the second explosion, his weapon charged and ready.

"Come on, dude," the blonde whispered. "Come and get it."

And so Prompto led Shrimpy on an excruciatingly slow chase, trying to lure the reluctant hunter further and further away from the cabin, away from Noct and Iggy. He felt exactly like that witch with the candy house in that fairy tale, except instead of laying down breadcrumbs, Prompto was leaving a tasty trail of grenades, and instead of greedy children, he was leading a murderous asshole. Sometimes, he just didn't even know what his life was.

Unfortunately for Prompto, the hunter was cautious and failed to run into the woods like a headless chickatrice like the blonde wanted him to. Without enough time to plan, Prompto knew his strategy was hopeful at best, but luckily, he was a glass half-full-with-an-umbrella-and-lime-wedge kind of guy. All he really needed to do was to buy Iggy a few minutes, enough time to haul Noct out of the cabin without either of them being killed. Prompto had no doubt that Iggy could do it...but he probably would have been even more confident if that niggling little voice in the back of his head wasn't insisting that something was seriously wrong with the chamberlain. Ignis had tried his best to hide it, and if Prompto hadn't been looking for it maybe he wouldn't have caught it, but the blonde had seen the way his friend's entire body had flinched just the slightest bit each time they'd hit a bump in the road during the drive up. It had been worrisome, to say the least. Prompto frowned and shook his head. He refused to let doubt creep in; they were going to get Noct out, and everyone - him, Noct and Iggy - were all going to be just fine. All this would just be a long, kinda bloody story that they could collectively tell Gladio when they met up again. _Kinda wish you were here with us, big guy. Noct needs his Shield. Hells, we could all use one right now._

Too soon, Shrimpy decided to ignore the 'come get me' signals that Prompto was flinging his way. He circled back around and began to head towards the cabin again, which was exactly what Prompto didn't want. Although the blonde had been trying to maintain a distance from the other man that was close enough to keep track but far enough to remain unseen, somehow the hunter slipped out of his radius. 

"Shit shit shit," Prompto whispered. "Looks like time's up, Igs."

As he chased after the other man, Prompto's straining ears picked up on the one sound that he really, really wanted to hear - Noct's voice. That was fucking awesome. Unfortunately, the panic in Noct's voice was telling him that the way things were going was the opposite of awesome. 

"Specs! No!" 

Prompto called his gun from the armiger and cocked it as he burst into a full on sprint towards the sound of Noct's voice. Whatever was going on, his friends needed him, and he was going to be there for them. Time for distractions was over.

Around the the opposite of the glen, Prompto literally stumbled into a tense standoff. The hunter that Prompto had been dealing with was slowly walking forward, his rifle pointed directly at Noct, who was standing defiantly over what looked like Ignis' prone body holding one of Gladio's old shields. _Oh gods, not again. Please not again._ There was another body on the ground, discarded like a large, broken doll. It looked like the hunter that had harassed them yesterday - or was that two days ago? If the wet puddle around the body and the open, staring eyes were any indication, he was definitely dead. 

"I told Tet this was a bad idea," Shrimpy said. He inched forward, step by step, sighting directly down the barrel of his poised weapon. "He was a dumb fuck that could never find trouble fast enough. But godsdamn it, you didn't have to kill him."

"You're kidding right?" Noct asked incredulously. He might have been wearing a hideous crimson mask of dried blood, but Noct was standing, lucid and most importantly, not dead. It was everything Prompto could have asked for. "You both tried to sell me to the Empire. And then he tried to kill us."

The hunter shook his head as if to deny Noct's words. "The Lucis Caelums, the Empire, the daemons, you're all the same. You're up there fighting your grand battles, and you never even notice the people that get trampled underfoot. You killed them all, you know. Tet was right about one thing. This is your fault."

"Look, my friends and I, we're trying to fix it - "

"You can't fix shit, boy. It's too late." Shrimpy stopped and stood with his feet spread. There was a small shift in his shoulders, the tenseness of his arms, the pattern of his breathing. Despite being some distance behind the hunter, Prompto could read all the signs of a man getting ready to take a difficult shot. They were obvious to him, since he did all the same things when preparing to fire on a tough target. Taking a deep, quiet breath, Prompto raised his own weapon and pointed it at the back of Shrimpy's chest, just to the left of the spine. Even if he missed the heart, there were plenty of other vital squishy bits in the chest that if hit, would incapacitate the hunter. Prompto knew that Noct had seen him, and was doing a good job of pretending he wasn't there. When the blonde stopped to take aim, however, Noct gave him the tiniest of nods. _Do it._

He simultaneously released his breath and tightened his finger around the trigger - no shot had ever felt so important. As he did so, Noct suddenly dropped to the ground, dismissed the shield and grabbed Ignis in one smooth movement. The two disappeared in a blue flash.

The bullet burst from the nozzle of Prompto's gun and raced towards Shrimpy as the hunter fired a split second too late. The hunter's bullet flew through thin air -thank the Six - while Prompto's cut through Shrimpy's chest and clipped one of the chambers of his heart, rupturing the organ. It then erupted out the other side in a fine mist of bone, blood and flesh. The hunter silently collapsed to the dirt, as dead as his brother.

Noct tumbled back into the real world - exactly where he went when warping was still a mystery to Prompto - almost right at the blonde's feet, his arms clasped tightly around Ignis. Prompto yelped at the unexpected reappearance of his friends.

"A little warning next time!"

Noctis groaned. "I...didn't....mmm...sorry." 

Prompto barely understood the slurred words that spilled from Noct in a messy jumble. He dropped to his knees next to the two men and gently tried to roll Noct onto his back. The king refused, tightening his weak grip around the unconscious chamberlain and holding him even closer. No matter, Prompto could check them both just fine. He frantically ran his hands over both men, looking for any indication that they'd been injured. "Noct? Iggy? You guys alright? Were you hit?"

"Nnn...no," Noct breathed. He blinked sleepily up at Prompto, face scrunched in either pain or concentration. Maybe both. Iggy stayed silent and still, clearly out of it. Man, Iggy looked bad. As bad as Noct, maybe worse. The exhilaration of finding Noct alive was slowly being subdued by a sense of _wrong_. "Too much."

Too much? Too much what? Kidnapping? Fighting? Drugs? Did the hunters drug him up? Because Noct sounded totally out of it, like he was completely stoned. It was just like when he...oh. "Too much magic. Stasis?"

"Mmm." 

Prompto was going to take that as an agreement. He vaguely remembered Noct mentioning that warping objects along with himself took way more magic than expected, especially if the object was big and complex. Like another person. Which was why he almost never did it. "Sounds like its ether time."

Except the armiger had no ethers. Or elixirs. Or anything that could help Noct. As a matter of fact, there was literally nothing in the way of curatives other than a single potion. _Um, that's not good._ "Sorry buddy, but all we have left is a potion. You want it?"

Noct's head slowly rolled back and forth on his neck, and Prompto assumed that he was refusing. "Spe...Specs. He's. Hmm. Something's...wrong."

Well, Prompto had already figured that one out all by himself. "You wanna let go of him, then?" he asked softly. "I can't help him unless you do."

The king frowned at him, as if contemplating whether he could entrust his advisor to Prompto. "I'll be careful, I promise. But I gotta see to Iggy, Noct. Sooner would be better."

"'Kay." As soon as Noct released his grip - Prompto probably could have forced the issue if he'd wanted, but no way was he dealing with Noct afterwards - the blonde rolled Iggy onto his back. Well shit, he'd been walking and talking when Prompto had seen him last. What the hells had happened? He supposed it was possible that Iggy's body had finally decided that enough was enough; it wasn't as though he'd been in the best shape to begin with.

Swallowing down his worry, Prompto did a more careful patdown to seek out any new wet patches on Iggy's clothing. His fingers brushed against warm stickiness around the ripped hole in Ignis' shirt, which wasn't great. He untucked and lifted it to get a better look, and yeah, things were worse underneath. The edges of the healed wound had broken open and were lazily seeping, but what caught Prompto's attention was the dark, ugly bruise wrapped around Iggy's swollen side. 

"Wish I could give you more, Igster," Prompto murmured as he helped the unconscious man crack their last potion. The weeping gunshot wound knit back up, but there was no change in the bruise as far as Prompto could tell.

The blonde sat back on his heels as Noct sluggishly wrapped his arms and legs around Ignis once more like a drowsy octopus. Their situation was far from funny, but Prompto felt a bit of hysterical laughter coming on and bit his tongue to keep it in. Ignis was out and Noct was low on batteries, and so that left him to be the de facto decision-maker of their group, which was like, so wrong on so many levels. They needed to get out of here, and fast. Except there was no way that Prompto was going to be able to carry both Noct and Ignis back to the truck. Maybe if Gladio was here they could manage, but he wasn't, so why was he even thinking about Gladio and his ridiculously big muscles? _Focus, Prompto. Keep it together, dude._ If only he could get the truck to come to them...

He snatched at the walkie-talkie that was still clipped to his pants, embarrassed that he'd almost forgotten about it. He set the frequency and then jammed his thumb into the push-to-talk button, hoping that he'd remembered correctly. "Dave? Come in, Dave? This is Prompto."

Prompto held the device to his ear, gripping it tight. He jumped as the walkie-talkie crackled to life, the hunter's voice booming out through the speaker. Wincing, he turned the volume down. "This is Dave. What's your status?"

"We've, uh, we've got Noct." Prompto vaguely wondered whether they should be using code names or something. "What's yours? Is the Empire gone?"

There was a sound like rusty metal rubbing together and Prompto realized that Dave was laughing. "Ignis was right," he crowed. "There were only a few of 'em that came. They turned tail and ran when we started in on 'em. Bastards didn't know what hit 'em."

"That's great," Prompto said fervently. It was one less thing to worry about. "Look, are you at the truck? 'Cause Noct and Iggy are, um, they're both in pretty rough shape. Can you come get us?"

"Yeah, we can," a female voice replied. Dave must have handed the walkie-talkie to Lucie. "Just got here. Where are you?"

"Still at the cabin." Prompto chewed on his lip. Noct's eyes just slipped shut, and he was unresponsive when the blonde shook his shoulder. "Can you please hurry?"

"We'll be there fast as we can. What about Tet and Bern?"

Bern, that's right. That was Shrimpy's name. "They're dead."

There was a long period of silence over the line and for a moment Prompto worried that the device had gone dead. "Hello?"

"Yeah. I guess they were bound to get themselves killed sooner or later," Lucie said. "Hang tight, we'll be there soon."

Prompto didn't know how long it was until Dave and Lucie roared up the dirt driveway, but he was pretty sure he'd aged about fifty years while waiting. Turned out that watching your friends struggle and not being able to help was a huge fucking drain. He jumped up and waved at the hunters as they hopped out of the truck. "Here! Over here!"

Between the three of them, they managed to haul Noct and Ignis' limp forms into the the truck. Maneuvering unconscious bodies was hard; wrestling two unconscious bodies into the backseat of a truck cab along with one conscious one was nearly impossible. Prompto ended up wedged between Noct and Iggy, propping them both up. It was definitely more awkward for poor Ignis, whose tall, floppy frame did not appreciate being stuffed into a tight corner, but they somehow managed. Prompto just prayed that they hadn't done more damage to either man.

"What's wrong with them?" Lucie asked as Dave started up the truck.

"I don't know. Noct's in stasis, but I don't know if anything else is wrong. Iggy wasn't doing so hot even before we went out."

Lucie shook her head, and the blonde thought that she'd comment on Ignis' stubbornness in light of their previous exchange, but she kept her thoughts to herself. It was probably a good thing, because Prompto wasn't sure he could have kept his cool if she'd said anything. Not many people understood how Iggy felt about Noct and just how far he would go to protect the king. Was it nuts? Abso-freaking-lutely, no doubt about it. But that was just the way Iggy was, and he wasn't gonna change anytime soon.

"We're gonna have to drive to Lestallum for a hospital," Dave said. "HQ's closer, but it's only got a clinic. I don't think it's gonna be enough for those two." 

Prompto nodded. "Sounds good." He could feel tears gathering at the corners of his eyes and blinked rapidly to keep them from spilling over. He needed to be strong for his friends. He could do this. "They'll be okay," he said out loud. "I know it."

The drive to Lestallum was basically a nightmare that wouldn't end. Although Dave was pushing his vehicle to its limits, it still took an agonizingly long time to emerge from the woods and onto proper roads. While Noct drifted in and out of consciousness, never awake enough to really say or do anything coherent, Ignis kept quietly sliding towards what Prompto feared was the point of no return. Deep shadows settled under Iggy's closed eyes, and his face remained shockingly pale. His breathing seemed to get slower and slower, although that could have just been Prompto's growing paranoia hard at work. Still, he summoned their one and only phoenix down and clutched it tightly in his hand, ready to slam it onto Iggy if necessary. At the sight of the bright, precious feather, Dave's eyes widened in the rearview mirror and he jammed the gas pedal to the floor.

Prompto's nerves were totally shot when they finally rolled into Lestallum. He didn't really have any nervous habits like finger tapping or nail biting, but he was seriously considering adopting one when all this was over. After the tense silence of the drive, the bustle and noise of the emergency ward in Lestallum's hospital was almost overwhelming. Dave and Lucie draped Ignis between them, while Prompto dragged Noct along. Not that he was judging, but a limp Noct was _heavy_.

Nurses and orderlies rushed out to take the two unconscious men and lay them on wheeled beds. It all went by so fast - one minute Prompto was with his friends, and the next they'd disappeared behind double doors that proclaimed 'Authorized Personnel Only'. He stood and stared, rooted to the floor despite the fact that exhaustion was beginning to crash down on him. He'd been awake for almost thirty long, awful, horrible, terrible hours, and they were starting to catch up. Prompto thought he might be swaying - either that, or the hospital building was rudely rocking about. A rough hand caught his elbow before he could decide whether he wanted to keep standing or just plop down where he was.

"Come sit down, boy," Dave said. "Unless you need one of the docs too."

Prompto mutely shook his head but did let the hunter lead him to an uncomfortable chair. He dropped into it numbly, gritty eyes still fixed on the door. Iggy and Noct were gonna be fine. 

They had to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That stasis thing is probably crap, but it worked in the moment. Thanks for reading!


	8. Chapter 8

"Shouldn't you be in bed?"

A deep voice startled Ignis out of his silent vigil. He briefly glanced over his shoulder to confirm the presence of a hulking silhouette by the door, and then turned his attention back to the still figure before him. "I'm where I need to be," he said quietly. 

Gladio walked into the darkened room and stood by Ignis' wheelchair. He lightly flicked at the clear plastic bag that was draining fluids into the chamberlain's arm. "Really? I think this says otherwise."

Ignis frowned and didn't bother to respond. He rather wished Gladio would go away and leave him be. He didn't want to be distracted, didn't want to miss the moment when Noct finally woke up.

Apparently, the Shield had not acquired the ability to read minds during his absence, because he settled himself into one of the vacant chairs with a heavy sigh. "Prompto says you were pretty banged up. You guys really freaked him out."

"Prompto worries far too much," Ignis shot back, despite the surge of fondness that rose up at the mention of the blonde. They likely wouldn't have made it without Prompto. _Noct_ wouldn't have made it.

"Does he? 'Cause he kinda made it sound like you almost bled out. Twice."

Ignis inhaled deeply, cautiously, bracing himself for a twinge of pain that thankfully never came. "Is there a point to this, Gladio?" he asked icily. "Because if not, I'd appreciate some peace."

"Alright then. Are we gonna do this now?"

"No, we are not," the chamberlain hissed. "You will not disturb Noct's rest."

Gladio sighed again as leaned forward in his seat, resting his elbows against his knees, but refrained from arguing. Ignis slowly relaxed into the silence that settled over them - in the still darkness, he could almost forget the Shield was even there. It wasn't long before Gladio ruined it, however. Taciturnity had never been his strong suit.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay?"

Ignis' lips thinned. "I'm not the one you should be apologizing to, Gladiolus."

"Yeah well, Noct's not up for it right now, and yeah, I should be. Shit, Iggy," Gladio rumbled, tugging at the ends of his hair. It was a nervous gesture that Ignis hadn't seen in a while. "You know I never would have left if I knew something like this would happen."

There had been a hairline fracture in Noct's skull where the bullet had creased his forehead. The impact of that injury had torn blood vessels in his head and caused a slow bleed into his brain that had, Ignis suspected, been worsened by the stun grenade detonation. The curatives Ignis had administered had repaired Noct's eardrums and had helped him remain lucid, but had come too late to reverse the damage already done. Ignis very rarely second-guessed his own decisions; he'd done nothing but since regaining consciousness. He would not, could not, bear the weight of Gladio's guilt on top of his own.

"You should _always_ expect something like this to happen," he whispered fiercely. "It is your duty to do so."

Ignis didn't want to be angry with Gladio. The chamberlain had no idea why the Shield would leave his post, but he assumed that whatever the reason, it must have been terribly important. Gladio was his own person, and unlike Ignis, he'd never been given the choice to serve. The chamberlain understood that. He did. But Gladio hadn't been there, he'd left them behind, and Noct had very nearly died. Ignis alone hadn't been good enough to keep the king safe, and perhaps that rankled more than anything else. The Shield hadn't been gone more than a few days before Ignis had allowed his charge to be ambushed and taken. His hands clenched where they rested in his lap and his breath hitched. The doctors had insisted that he keep his stress levels down in order to facilitate his own recuperation. Ignis was finding that order very difficult to follow.

"I know! You think I don't know that? When Prompto called and said you guys were - " Gladio abruptly cut himself off. His voice was growing thick and and muffled. "Fuck. I'm sorry, Iggy. I should have been there. Some fucking Shield I am."

The chamberlain was aware that he should say something reassuring, acknowledge Gladio's remorse and let him know that he'd been heard. But Ignis didn't think he'd have the fortitude to do so until Noct opened his eyes. Although the surgery to relieve the pressure on his brain had supposedly been a success and the prognosis was positive, Noctis had yet to stir. The medical staff speculated that falling into stasis had depleted the energy reserves that might have aided Noct's revival, and that revelation had been particularly sickening. Gladio's absence may have contributed to their troubles, but Ignis' presence had been actively detrimental to the Noct's health. If the Shield wanted was forgiveness, such a thing could only be bestowed by one person and it certainly wasn't Ignis, not when he needed to beg it for himself. A fountain of shame welled up in the advisor. They had both failed their charge.

A quiet lull fell between the two men. Ignis closed his eyes, wrung out by the brief exchange. He slumped back, allowing the whir and regular beeping of hospital machinery to soothe his taut nerves. At some point, the sound of his own name being called prodded Ignis to wakefulness. If the stiffness in his neck and limbs was any indication, he must have fallen asleep sitting in his blasted wheelchair.

"Specs? Specs. Wake up." It was soft, so soft, and rough with disuse, but Ignis knew that voice and would obey even if it asked him to jump off a cliff. The advisor struggled to gather himself even as his eyes shot open. 

"Noctis?"

Noct was squinting at him, a frown pulling his brows into a flat, distressed line. His bed covers had been tossed aside haphazardly and one ankle was dangling over the edge of the bed railing as if he'd tried to get up and then thought better of it. "Specs. You're alive," Noct gasped. He squeezed his eyes shut. "Shit. I thought..."

The profound relief that flooded through Ignis was so intense that it physically hurt. Ignis needed to be close to Noct. He needed to be by his king's side, _now now now_. The frantic impulse was not to be denied and so he shakily pushed himself to be his feet. Despite all the blood and fluids that had been pushed into him, his ungrateful body was still frustratingly weak and refused to recover as quickly as he thought it should. The line to the empty saline bag was holding him back, and so he ripped the needle out of his hand and left the tubing dangling from the pole attached to his chair. Pressing a palm against the dull ache in his belly - the pain medication must be wearing off - he stumbled the few steps to Noct's bedside and reached out towards his charge. "Noct. I'm here."

"Specs. You wouldn't... You wouldn't wake."

Ignis gingerly perched himself on the edge of the bed. "I'm so sorry. I'm awake now."

"No. Here," Noct insisted, tugging at Ignis' hospital gown sleeve. "Please."

How could he refuse? Ignis carefully lowered himself next to Noct, breathing evenly through his nose. The ache was growing deeper, much to his dismay. While the newer wounds caused by his own surgery had been sealed by magic, the older internal damage from the displaced bullet fragments had to heal on its own. Curatives, as wonderful as they were, had their limitations - very inconvenient ones, from Ignis' point of view.

As soon as the chamberlain was stretched out, Noct turned and pressed up against him, burrowing in so close that Ignis thought the king was trying to meld their bodies together. Soon enough, the room would be flooded with nurses and doctors that would poke and prod at Noctis and force the advisor back to his own bed. But for now, it was just the two of them. For now, Ignis could wrap Noct in his arms and pretend that it would be enough to keep the king he loved safe from all that wanted to harm him. _Never again_, Ignis promised himself. Not even if the gods themselves came to claim his Noct. _Never again_.

____________________

"Hey, Specs."

Ignis paused at the greeting. "Hello, Noctis. Do you need something?"

Noct scratched at the back of his head. "Uh, no. Not really. Just, um, wanted to see if you needed any help."

"Ah." Confused by the offer, the chamberlain glanced down at the the half-unrolled sleeping bag in his hands. "I think I can manage, but thank you. It was thoughtful of you to ask."

"Oh. Okay." Rather than leaving the tent, the king awkwardly stood behind Ignis as the the advisor set up his sleeping spot. Gladio had offered to do the dishes in a fit of penance, and had not so subtly suggested that Ignis get off his feet. "You still look like shit, go get some rest" had been Gladio's exact words, as a matter of fact. Prompto, who had been pleasantly surprised by one of his favorite meals - there would be quite a few of those to come in the near future - had enthusiastically offered to help, leaving Ignis with the rarity of an evening off.

Despite feeling a bit miffed by the Shield's brusque words - Ignis did not ever look like 'shit', thank you - he'd decided that perhaps an early turn in wasn't a terrible idea. He and Noctis had been released from the hospital a few days prior, and while it it had been a relief to fall back into their natural rhythm of driving and camping, he still tired easily. It was an annoyance that Ignis hoped to soon put behind him.

Noctis, much to everyone's relief, had made a complete recovery. Physically, anyway. Ignis was beginning to worry that perhaps his recent ordeal had dealt a negative psychological blow, as Noct had been behaving...oddly. Usually Ignis was the one chasing the king around, but recently, the trend seemed to have reversed, and it worried the chamberlain. Not that he minded having Noct close - he preferred it - but it was a bit strange, as Noctis had always been quite independent.

With a sigh, Ignis smoothed down the sleeping bag and carefully straightened up. Before he could say anything, he found himself ambushed by one clingy king. Noct shoved himself against the advisor's back and carefully wrapped his arms around Ignis' waist.

_What in the world?_ If Ignis hadn't been alarmed before, he certainly was now. "Noct? What's wrong?" 

"They told me you were dead." Noct's voice was muffled as he mashed his face against Ignis' spine. "They said they'd killed you."

_Ah._ Yes, things were a bit clearer now. "As you can see, they were obviously wrong," Ignis murmured mildly. "I'm quite alive."

Noct's arms tightened a fraction. "I thought you were gonna, you know. Die. After the fight."

"But I didn't." Ignis said gently. The last thing he really remembered was being socked by a burst of paralyzing agony. He'd likely been bleeding internally for a while, at that point. The rest was a blur, and it was probably better that way. Still, Ignis regretted that he'd caused Noct any consternation. Noctis should have been focusing on his own health and safety, not that of his retainer's. "I'm sorry to have worried you."

"Mmm. Don't die, Specs. Ever. I mean it."

Ignis smiled. He closed his eyes and reveled in the warmth of Noct's affection. "I'm afraid that might prove a rather difficult order to follow."

"You can do it. I believe in you," Noctis said seriously.

The chamberlain let out a small laugh. "I appreciate the show of faith, however unwarranted."

Noctis let his arms drop and he spun his chamberlain around, hands on Ignis' shoulders. His thumbs rubbed gently over the collarbones and Ignis shivered. "When...when they said you'd died, you know what I thought?"

"I can't imagine."

The king rolled his eyes. "You can't imagine? Really, Specs? Come on."

"I would never presume to know the mind of a king," Ignis demurred slyly. 

"Ha, that would be a first," Noct shot back, a smirk lifting the corner of his lips. "Anyway," he continued. "I thought...well, I was like, kicking myself for not ever saying anything. I thought that I'd never get the chance. I should have told you. But I never did. Because...well, just because."

"Tell me what?" Ignis asked patiently. Prompto was the premier rambler in their group, but Noctis could certainly give the blonde a run for his money when he put his mind to it. 

Noctis took a deep breath, and rather than answering, he tilted his head up and brushed his lips against the hollow of Ignis' throat, right next to the tiny skull pendant that he'd gifted his chamberlain so many years ago. Ignis froze, unsure of what exactly was happening but not wanting to disrupt whatever impulse the king was acting upon. Noct followed it up with another dry, feather-light nip, leaving a trail up the long, pale column of Ignis' neck. Noctis ended his travels with a chaste kiss at the corner of Ignis' mouth and then pulled away.

"I think I've wanted to do that for a long time. I just didn't _know_ until...well, you know." Noct's eyes were downcast, and it was difficult to tell in the dim lantern light inside the tent, but Ignis thought that Noct might be blushing. As for Ignis himself, he wondered whether he'd died after all. There could be no other possible explanation for what had just happened.

"Specs? Say something," Noct pleaded. 

Ignis opened his mouth, but what was there to say? The chamberlain had been satisfied with what he had, and had long ago resigned himself to being close to Noct without ever having Noct. And how could he? Noctis was the Chosen King, and he a mere retainer. It was laughable, to even think that Noctis would consider...

"Ignis?" Noct's voice was pitched high with uncertainty. "Shit..."

The chamberlain yanked Noctis in close, sliding his fingers through the king's dark, silky hair. "Noct," he breathed. He leaned down and firmly pressed his mouth against Noctis' own, pouring years of love and devotion into the touch. When Ignis felt Noct's tongue tentatively nudging against his lips, he immediately parted them with a small moan - who was he to deny the king anything he wanted? If Noctis wished to devour him alive, Ignis would gladly offer himself up on a silver platter. 

Ignis didn't know how long they were locked into place, exploring each other's mouths with slippery abandon, when the tent flap was opened with a rustle of heavy canvas. "Hey guys? Gladio wants to know - oh, _oh!_ Shit! What? I, um...shit. You know what? Never mind! Sorry!" 

Booted feet raced back out of the tent as Ignis and Noctis broke apart. The chamberlain thought he should be mortified, but there was no room for such negativity when he was dizzy with bliss. Noct chuckled softly as he leaned his forehead against Ignis' shoulder.

"On a scale of one to tomato, how red do you think Prompto's face got?"

"Beyond tomato, I would think," Ignis murmured. "I hope we haven't scarred him too badly."

"He'll get over it," Noct shrugged. "His fault for having shitty timing."

"It can't be helped, I suppose." Ignis had a feeling he'd be cooking Prompto's favorites for a long time to come. "Noctis, are you certain about this?"

"Are you fucking kidding me? Hells yeah I am." Noct pushed back and gazed up at Ignis, his expression solemn. "Are you?"

Over fifteen years of intensive training had ingrained the rules of propriety into Ignis' entire being, and they screamed that this was a bad idea. Society would frown upon such a partnership for an endless number of reasons. But...the society they had been groomed for was gone, destroyed by the Empire. Ignis stared down at Noct's beautiful, hopeful face. The king was fighting to restore order to a world gone mad. Didn't that give him the right to decide what was appropriate and what was not? Didn't Noctis deserve everything he wanted? And if he wanted Ignis...

"Most certainly."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there it is... Sorry for the semi-sappy ending, but I couldn't end two fics in a row on hospital scenes. :D Thank you to everyone who read, commented and left kudos!


End file.
